Climate change hits the west

Indeed, instead of cutting emissions, the Government has approved or is considering a number of new high-emissions projects.

The Gorgon, Pluto, Browse Basin, Wheatstone, and Prelude natural gas projects in the north west are estimated to add almost 60 megatonnes of greenhouse gases per annum by 2016. In addition the Bluewaters 3 power station and the Muja A-B power station refurbishment in Collie, the Coolimba power station in Eneabba, and the associated Perdaman urea plant in Collie would add another 12 megatonnes per annum. All up, the various new resource projects on the books could come close to doubling WA’s greenhouse gas emissions within a decade.

Even if WA’s minerals boom is derailed by a fall in overseas demand or growing energy costs, the state’s energy projects are likely to go ahead due to growing global concerns about medium term energy security. Of course, just who actually controls the huge gas supplies and how they are distributed will become an increasingly interesting issue as questions of sovereignty and even security arise.

So the evidence strongly suggests that WA is already feeling the effects of climate change, but other than some increasingly frenetic activity by the Water Corporation, there are few signs that policy makers really get it.