Senate Submission: Oil Drilling and Fossil Fuels within the Great Australian Bight Source: adelaidenow.com.au By Rebecca Faulkner Bsc (Hons), BA double major Environmental Studies and Biological Sciences 1 Dear Committee Members, As a scientist and a resident of Southern Australia I am deeply concerned by the proposed plans by 5 oil companies to drill for oil in the pristine, untouched and biologically diverse Great Australian Bight and Southern Ocean just off the coast of South Australia. This region is home to many unique species of wildlife, unique geology (longest southern coastline on the planet), it’s culturally and economically significant for many local communities particularly the local indigenous communities, fishing and aquaculture industry and tourism. Growing up along the coast in South Australia the beach and coastline has not only been a place of recreation (walking, swimming, snorkelling, boogie boarding) for me but also been a classroom. Here I have learnt about the nature systems including remnant dune systems, long shore drift, the loss of sea grass along the Adelaide coastline, intertidal reefs, mangrove ecosystems, benthic ecosystems and the impact of urban development on the natural world. I have travelled to the West Coast to the Eyre Peninsula and fallen in love with the towns and the natural environment from the coves to sheer sandstone cliffs to the stunning rolling huge sand dunes and the wildlife. The national parks and coastline provides an experience and an opportunity to observe what an untouched environment looks like. This industry, no matter what the safeguards are, poses a significant threat to this pristine area and its current economic contribution to the State of South Australia and the country as a whole. The companies which currently hold leases and are proposing to drill in the Great Australian Bight are Stat Oil, Santos, Bight Petroleum, Chevron and BP (Figure 1). BP is currently the most advanced in the approvals process planning to drill later this year in the Summer 2016-2017. While other companies including Bight Petroleum already having completed their seismic testing and are waiting to see the results of BP approval. BP has the worst track record when it comes to spills and environmental disasters being responsible for the worst environmental disaster in USA history. The Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, USA (see section 1). I am deeply concerned that they will replicate their reckless approach to risk management and environmental protection in our waters. Figure 1 – Oil Exploration Leases in SA Waters 2 Source: Austin 2015 Deepwater Horizon In the tragic Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 11 workers lost their lives. Oil poured into the sea for 84 days, releasing approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil. Crone and Tolstoy (2010) estimate that 804,8077 barrels or 127,963m3 of oil was collected on the seafloor. Marine life was devastated, local fisheries and the tourism industry were wrecked, and local communities were left desolate. Even though clean up occurred a large amount of oil that hit the shoreline remains ‘trapped in coastal ecosystems, especially benthic areas’ (Kostka et al 2011). The costs from the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon disaster continue to emerge. Recently scientists found a 10 million gallon bathmat of oil on the floor of the gulf. The coastal communities within the region have still not recovered and some likely never will. On 4th of September 2014 a US Federal Judge found BP guilty of being grossly negligent and guilty of wilful misconduct in regards to the Deepwater Horizon Disaster (Business and Human Rights Resource Centre 2015). In July 2015 BP settled a record lawsuit in the United States of $US18.7 Billion US$ with the United States Government and five state governments claims in regards to the Deepwater Horizon Disaster. The states sued for damages that weren’t covered in earlier payouts by BP. In total BP has had to pay more than $5 Billion US Dollars for breaching the Clean Water Act. BP is still paying out this money to the USA at the same time that they want to drill in our waters (Bradshaw and Agencies 2015). The Deepwater Horizon disaster has cost the Gulf regions tourism industry $23 Billion in loss revenue and over 12,000 people their employment. It likely harmed or killed (the real numbers will never be known) more than a million birds from 102 species, 6,165 sea turtles and up to 25,900 marine mammals (Wilderness Society 2015). Oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is, and was at the time of the disaster, an established industry and as such the equipment needed to address a spill was on hand at the time. Here in South Australia it’s an industry that currently doesn’t exist and as such there is no infrastructure available and on hand to address a spill if one were to occur. The necessary equipment would have to be brought in from across the globe from as far as the UK, Singapore and the United States. Great Australian Bight the Carbon Bomb The region has been described by those in the Fossil Fuel Industry as the largest unexplored and unopened fossil fuel basin on the planet “the last frontier” whilst environmental groups have called it a carbon bomb. Bight Petroleum has estimated their lease sites could contain 43.7 billion barrels of oil (Bight Petroleum n.d). This in a time the global scientific community is telling the world that all fossil fuels must stay in the ground and there must be no new fossil fuel basins opened on the planet. Scientists are already stating that 2016 is going to be the hottest year on record. It is now predicted that globally the planet will pass the 2C warming before 2050 not before 2100 as originally predicted. The global scientific community and the global community has stated that 2degrees is the tipping point for dangerous uncontrolled climate change. Around the globe and here in Australia we are can already see and feel the impacts of climate change caused by enhanced greenhouse effect. Just this week there have been reports that researchers from James Cook University have found that 95% of the Northern Great Barrier Reef has been bleached as a result of increasing oceanic temperatures. It has been classified at a level 3 bleaching event, which is the highest level. The scientists predict that half of the coral bleached will die within a week (McCutcheon 2015). In 3 addition Australia in recent years has been experiencing an increase in extreme weather events with climate change these are expected to increase along with a range of other environmental impacts (Figure 2). Figure 2: The increase in impacts in recent decades now attributable to climate change (IPCC 2014) Global leaders within and outside of the scientific community (David Suzuki and Leonardo DiCaprio) are calling for urgent action on greenhouse gas emissions, to transition from a global economy based on fossil fuels to one on renewable energies, Even the famous American Rockafeller family who 4 made their wealth in oil have realised that fossil fuels must stay in the ground and have divested announcing in Mach 2016 that they will no longer invest in the fossil fuel industry stating that there is clear evidence of climate change and that fossil fuel reserves (oil, tar sands and coal) must stay in the ground. They and the fund that they own have even come out publically and shamed ExonMobil (whose parent company they once owned and founded) for its impacts while attempting to exploit oil in the Arctic Ocean (n.d, 2016). Opening such a significant and new fossil fuel basin is irresponsible and goes against our international global commitments (Paris Climate Agreement) as a nation to prevent dangerous climate change. My home state of South Australia is currently the driest state on the planet and we are already feeling the impacts of the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect. We have only recently come out of a decade long drought, now with permanent water restrictions and experiencing severe bushfires that devastated agricultural communities. In addition we are expected to have increased storm surges, sea level rise, a hotter and dryer climate, increased heat waves (number of days over 35 degrees centigrade), increases in heat related illness, reduced rainfall and impacts on agricultural productivity (Department of the Environment,n.d) Australia has the best range of renewable resources on the planet. We have the potential to harness wind, solar, tidal and geothermal power. Beyond Zero Emissions Australia has identified that Australia has the ability to install large scale solar thermal plants that will provide baseload power (ref). South Australia has already begun to undertake this transition and leads the nation with half the nations wind capacity 1.5GW of installed energy and in 2014 for a day produced and was powered 100% renewable energy (Parkinson 2014).The South Australian State Government in 2009 had a target to produce 33% of the state’s energy from renewable energy by 2020 this was achieved in 2013. In 2014 the target increased to 50% of renewables by 2020 with 40% of the state’s electricity coming from renewables in 2014 and this year 2016 it is expected to surpass 50%. Last year Professor Disendorf stated that South Australia could easily become powered 100% by renewable energy with a combination of large scale solar thermal, household PV, wind, gas turbines and home storage batteries. The development of storage batteries is moving fast (Parkinson 2016). Great Australian Bight Environment Argument – Diverse, Unique, Significant The Great Australian Bight is a unique, highly diverse and highly significant region of Australia.