The green light for the largest coalmine in NSW history is shocking proof that our governance systems are betraying Australians | Georgina Woods

There is no greater treachery than this failure to face up to the climate crisis. How can we now fend off despair?

The Independent Planning Commission’s published reasons for approving the largest coalmine in New South Wales history in the context of mounting death, disaster and despair brought on by global heating reads like a hostage statement. In its decision , the commission accepts that the extension of the Hunter Valley Operations’ mine for a further 19 years – resulting 809m tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution – will materially worsen global warming. The panel members cite CSIRO’s finding that climate change is having a growing effect on the…