The clouds of smoke and ash may have receded from the skies of Morwell but the health risks from coal won’t disappear. Evidence presented to the ongoing inquiry into the fire should give us all pause to reflect not just on the public health disaster but also on the broader issue of air pollution.
The Greens have been critical of the state and federal governments' response. Officials have admitted that they knew from the outset that it could take months to get the fire under control but it still took three weeks before any government assistance was offered to help residents relocate. I visited Morwell several times during the crisis and people were confused and frightened for their health. While authorities need to be careful when discussing health risks because panic can make things worse there is rarely a justification for withholding information or failing to communicate potential risks.
More people die from poor air quality in Australia each year than die from the road toll.
The health consequences of air pollution aren’t always easy to identify because they can have an impact over the short and long term. Short term risks include elevated risks of heart attack and asthma attack, long term risks include lung cancer.
The concern for Morwell residents is that they have had chronic exposure to poor air quality well before the coal mine fire started. Air pollution from the mine and the power plant means that the community is already at an increased risk of poorer health outcomes, and these have simply been compounded by the fire.
The reality is that poor air quality poses a serious risk to human health. More people die from poor air quality in Australia each year than die from the road toll. And while conservative governments across the country are determined to cut what they call “green tape,” the crisis in Morwell actually highlighted an enormous gap in government regulation.
The standards and monitoring for emissions from coal mines and power stations are hopelessly inadequate. There is no enforceable standard for the most dangerous fine particle pollution (pm2.5). Worse still, people living in close proximity to coal mines don’t have their air quality monitored because they don’t represent the average person’s level of exposure. This is part of the reason that there was no comprehensive air quality monitoring by the EPA until many days after the Morwell fire started.
Reducing pollution is as important for our own health as it is for the health of our climate. It’s about the air we all breathe and the water we drink.
We need an immediate overhaul of air quality standards, monitoring and enforcement. I believe that a national Clean Air Act, like they have in the US, is the best way to achieve this.
But we also need to take a step back and consider the true impact of fuelling our nation on coal. Once you factor in the health and environmental damage of generating coal fired power, it certainly isn’t cheap. According to the Australian Academy of Technological Studies and Engineering, burning coal creates a national health burden of $2.6 billion per year.
Reducing pollution is as important for our own health as it is for the health of our climate. It’s about the air we all breathe and the water we drink.
Tony Abbott said in Texas last week that coal would continue to fuel human progress for many decades at least, while his government simultaneously strives to gut investment in clean renewable energy.
We can’t let that happen. Australia needs to have a national conversation about how much longer we are prepared to expose ourselves to the serious health impacts of coal.
Dr Richard Di Natale is the Australian Greens health spokesperson and a former GP. In 2013 the Senator led an inquiry into the health impacts of air quality.
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