‘No further comment’ is arrogant

Dear Echo News,

“I won’t be commenting further” says the Minister for the Environment after granting 45 years more gas production by Woodside on our North West Shelf shows his blatant arrogance is only surpassed by the stupidity of that statement by the person most responsible for the protection of us all from pollution and degradation of our environment.

Those who think this provides the “necessary certainty for business” are either ignorant or dismissive of the decision’s likely impact on us all and of the fact that business makes its profits because it deals with uncertainty.

If there was no uncertainty business would not exist, because entrepreneurial profits would not exist in a certain world.

The reality is that the real “certainty” you’ve created is that of future generations’ scorn, which may be offset (at least for you and your political colleagues) by more jobs at Woodside for the boys/failed politicians!

P Carman

Hovea

Woodside decision a carbon bomb

Dear Echo News,

What do you do when you toss and turn all night worried about the effect of approving a massive carbon bomb on your grandchildren’s future?

The decision by the Environment Minister Watts was essentially a suicide note for our precious Ningaloo, Scott and Montgomery reefs.

IPCC scientists warn that we are on our way to two degrees of global heating by 2040 and 2.5 degrees by 2060 incompatible with the survival of coral reefs, and yet Scarborough gas extension has been approved to 2070.

Woodside has promised net zero by 2050 on its extraction of gas using dodgy carbon credits and carbon capture and storage but that doesn’t account for the 50 years of exports which will still be causing global heating in a 100 years.

Woodside’s emissions will add as much as all Australia’s current coal power stations and make it impossible to reduce emissions to 80 per cent by 2035. The emissions are equivalent to ten years of emissions from the whole of Australia.

The Western Australian  government environment report summary deliberately left out graphs and evidence from UWA scientists that proved extensive damage to the Murujuga rock carvings over 30,000 years old.

The Australia institute has calculated that the government has allowed the export of over $200 billion of gas that belongs to we the people royalty free. Only current gas fields attract minimal royalties.

And this when insurance costs alone from climate disasters was $4.3b in 2024 (University of Melbourne.)

The Prime Minister says that this is a matter of opinion after promising climate action during the election. It’s not opinion; it’s science.

Meg O’Neill has accused young people of being ideological while helping cause the climate crisis by ordering online from Temu. Every single young Australian would have to order 4888 t-shirts each year to match Woodsides current emissions.

If we have any hope of limiting global heating to two degrees we need a massive transition to renewables, electrification of everything and a huge investment in regreening agriculture and protecting our oceans and environment which will create millions of new jobs.

C Hughes

Midland

Bike lane visibility concerns

Dear Echo News,

Five years ago I contacted the City of Swan regarding bike lanes not being visible to drivers in cars.

The lanes are brown and barely show a bike logo to indicate it is a bike lane.

I have recontacted the City of Swan and I have been waiting for a while to get a response.

Years ago there was community consultation from the City of Swan but nothing came of it regarding bike safety and lanes.

There is one outside the town hall that is barely visible none in most of the other streets.

About a month ago I was involved in an accident with a situation of coming off a footpath onto the road and the e-scooter was on the road.

If there had been a bike path I would not have fallen off, I would have been in front or behind the e-scooter.

I did receive a huge bruise and lots of pain in my leg as I also had to be picked up off the road.

Recently I was near the railway workshops in front of the hospital riding on a bike lane and there was a van parked on the bike lane.

I stopped and advised the driver he said there was nowhere else to park.

I then went off the bike path onto the road and I had an abusive female driver screaming at me to get off the road.

There has been many a time where drivers have beeped and got close behind me and screamed obscenities and to get off the road.

I have been riding for 50 years or so and on most days I indicate and if I have to be on the footpath I am careful of pedestrians and advise that I am behind them.

I am trying to start a petition to get the lanes in the inner city well-marked to indicate that there are visible bike lanes.

A Brown

Guildford