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5000 visitors to the Esperanza have the power to create change
Another Saturday, another balmy, sunny open boat day in far North Queensland. This week we are in Townsville and with the 400 people who visited the ship today, the total number of people who’ve been on board since we began in Sydney 5 weeks ago climbed to over 5000. That’s over 5000 people who have…
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Finally setting sail for Townsville
We’ve been anchored off Mackay for 3 days now, because late in the day after our coal ship painting protest we were notified by the Townsville Port Authority about ‘security concerns’, and other issues, that would have prevented us from docking at the port. Initially, there was a requirement that we would be required to…
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Why ‘Clean Coal’ Is No Excuse For Burning Coal
Our coal ship painting action the other day put both Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett on the spot, forcing them to respond publicly about their plans to expand the coal industry. Both politicians used the development of so-called ‘clean coal’ technology as their defence. ‘Clean coal’, or carbon capture…
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Bligh’s Response To Greenpeace Coal Ship Action In Queensland
Greenpeace activists finished their painting just moments before a police boat turned up this morning, with a final tally of 20 ships painted with messages like “Bligh exporting CO2”, “Coal is killing the Reef” and “Stop coal expansion”. While 10 activists were taken into custody by police, Premier Bligh was questioned about the protest in…
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Queensland Government’s Coal Protectionism
The latest evidence of the Queensland government’s blatant coal protectionism is a CSIRO report which has been sitting on Energy Minister Geoff Wilson’s desk for a year. The report finds that large-scale renewable energy plants could provide ALL of Queensland’s electricity needs, and recommends that the Queensland government start funding renewable technologies with some of…
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Coal Industry Stranglehold
It’s a balmy Saturday morning on the Esperanza and the sea is as calm as a lake. We are sliding past rugged southern Queensland islands and every so often a pod of whales breaches within a hundred metres of the ship. There’s a momentary illusion that all is well in the world. However, as we…