Teal independent MPs have said that a government bill that would allow carbon dioxide to be pumped into international waters is a “colossal attempt at greenwashing” that would facilitate new gas projects and prolong the life of the fossil fuel industry.
In a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, the member for Kooyong Monique Ryan, were said to have accused the government of introducing the legislation with “unseemly haste” to enable projects such as Santos’ Barossa offshore gas project, which proposes establishing a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in the depleted Bayu-Undan gas reservoir in waters off Timor-Leste.
Under the legislation, the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, would be able to grant permits to enable CO2 captured during industrial processes to be exported and stored under the seabed in another country’s waters. The legislation would also allow permits to be issued for “marine geoengineering” research that could be used to combat the climate crisis.
However, the government is quoted as saying that the bill is intended to bring Australia’s laws into line with changes to an international treaty on the prevention of marine pollution, known as the London Protocol.
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But independents pushing for stronger action on climate change said they were concerned it was an attempt to give social licence to fossil fuel projects that could not proceed if the world was to have any chance at limiting global heating to 1.5C.
According to reports, the Albanese government knew it would facilitate a gas industry expansion when it committed to provide public funding to the Middle Arm hub near Darwin, despite claiming otherwise. The sea dumping bill will help with that expansion.
Ryan expressed “distress and disgust” at the bill. “The bill will be a key enabler of gas expansion, granting social licence for new and highly polluting greenwashed fossil fuel projects,” she said.
The independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps also said that the bill was “a colossal attempt at greenwashing”.
“This bill enables the Barossa gas project to go ahead, when, because of the safeguard mechanism, it may not have. It is the very exception to the safeguard mechanism that Japan was seeking – by the back door,” she said.
Recall that amendments to the safeguard mechanism passed earlier this year require developers of new gas fields to offset all carbon dioxide emissions within Australia, adding to the cost of a project. Last month, the government said that it was resisting a push by Japan for the Barossa project to be given special treatment.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
