THE RENEWABLE energy transition is happening in Sally Hunter's backyard.
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As well as farming cattle, the Narrabri resident is the managing director of Geni.Energy, which has a mission to create more opportunities from the renewable energy sector.
"I just could see the writing on the wall that this transition was inevitable for the region, and we weren't ready," she told the Leader.
A state-approved expansion of Whitehaven's Narrabri underground coal mine is facing a judicial review into the Independent Planning Commission's (IPC) project approval.
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The expansion, which would increase the mine's life to 2044, is also one of 18 projects submitted by group the Environmental Council of Central Queensland (ECoEeQ) for consideration by federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek. That review is ongoing.
Climate litigation cases are an important step towards setting a precedent, Ms Hunter said, although it's certainly not going to be easily won.
![Narrabri cattle farmer and Geni.Energy managing director Sally Hunter said she got involved in renewables because the region wasn't ready to transition. Picture supplied Narrabri cattle farmer and Geni.Energy managing director Sally Hunter said she got involved in renewables because the region wasn't ready to transition. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/164349425/80e7514f-c9eb-4ff7-bc51-6aba22055da5.jpg/r0_0_1080_720_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Whitehaven has no intention of transitioning or reducing its emissions ever, she said.
"It's just ploughing along with its head in the sand, and not preparing anyone and not utilising its massive profits for the benefit of the community by transitioning workers," she said.
The expansion is a "shocking project", she said, it will create the longest and widest long wall mining in Australia, which disturbs underground and above ground water flows and impacts neighbours' bores.
And because it's located next to the Narrabri Gas Project, it's a really gassy mine, she said.
"It's one of Australia's most gaseous mines, and because it's not a gas field, it's a mine, all that gas is just being released to the atmosphere, so it will be the biggest emitter of co2 emissions when it's operating," she said.
In approving the project, the IPC considered 1,775 submissions from relevant stakeholders, and one-third addressed climate change issues, Whitehaven noted.
In a statement in its reasons for approval, the IPC said it had considered all emissions associated with the project as "permissible".
"High quality thermal coal has an important role to play in providing energy security during the decarbonisation transition," a statement from Whitehaven said.
"Whitehaven intends to vigorously defend the proceedings."
President of BSCA Jo Dodds lives in Bega Valley, which suffered a major fire in 2018 burning 69 homes and threatening hers.
She had evacuated when the fire hit, with nothing but her dog and her partner.
"It's a very clarifying thing to stand there and think, what will my life be like if my house burns down now with everything in it?" she said.
"How will I remember the people I've lost, who I remember through the letters that I've saved of theirs, or the relics of ancestors? How will I get dressed tomorrow, if I don't have any of my clothes?
"It's hard to look beyond the immediate threat of that fire, but I tell you what, you'll do pretty well anything to go back a few days and have the opportunity to make it different."
The legal challenge remains before the court, and a decision is expected before June.
This is the BSCA's second litigation, having won the first case against the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) which compels the EPA to develop the appropriate policies and guidelines to administer and protect the environment from climate damage.
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