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MGX5020 Finalassignment
MGX5020 Finalassignment
MGX5020 Finalassignment
ENVIRONMENT
SUBMITTED BY:
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................12
RECOMMENDATION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................13
ABSTRACT
This paper will look into the issues of the coal mining industry, how it affects the
environment, and what are the preventive measures that have been or should been taken.
Examples of damages caused by the mining emission to the environment will be provided
and discussed. Although mining has an impact on the physical landscape, global warming
and ecosystem, utilitarian ethics are applied to the case of mining. It briefly explores the
importance and benefits of the coal mining industry. But when you applied the ethics of
rights, it will explore the negative impacts of the coal mining industry and the need for
solutions are researched and discussed to solve the issues caused by the coal mining industry.
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INTRODUCTION
Mining is the excavation of precious minerals that come from within the earth, usually found
in ore bodies, veins, or coal seams. Mining can be conceded almost anywhere, from 4,000 m
above sea level to 4,000 below, from tropic jungles to the Arctic. Examples of minerals that
can be mined are coal, copper, silver, iron, gold, diamonds, etc. People mined everything that
cannot be grown or artificially made. Mining is very important because it gives access to
Coal is one of the most abundant fossil fuels in the world. it is combustible rock made from
the remains of plants from about 100 to 400 million years ago when deep forest covered for
most parts of the earth. Because it takes millions of years to produce coal, it is classified as a
coal consumption in 2009 was about 5924 million tons. The top 5 coal producing countries
are China produced 2971 million tons in 2009, followed by U.S.A. with 919 million tons,
India with 447.3 million tons, Australia with 335 million tons and Indonesia with 263
millions tons. Coal is the major fuel used for generating electricity worldwide these days
because it is the cheapest. A lot of Countries are heavily dependent on coal for electricity, for
examples in year 2008: South Africa (93%), China (79%), Australia (77%), India (69%). In
2006, 41% of world’s electricity generated by coal. Unless we found a new alternative to
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COAL MINING IN AUSTRALIA
Australia is one of the world’s major coal producer and exporter. Its land is rich in coal,
predominantly in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) regions. The industry is
not only extremely vital, but lucrative. Not only does coal generate about 85 per cent of the
nation’s electricity (ABARE, 2010), coal also contributes to Australia’s growing international
trade. A whooping 75 per cent of the country’s coals are exported globally (ABARE, 2010).
However, there are adverse effects on the natural environment that is attached with this
industry that has sparked many a debate in recent years (Bushfire Cooperative Research
Center, 2006). The process of burning coal releases greenhouse gases (mostly carbon dioxide
Releasing of greenhouse gases from the coal industry increases CO2 levels in the atmosphere,
leading to absorption and emission of thermal infrared which result in higher temperature (i.e.
global warming). This higher temperature leads to destruction of natural environment such as
bushfires (especially in VIC regions during summer) and also coral bleaching of the Great
Barrier Reef (Bushfire Cooperative Research Center, 2006). This leads to serious blow to
Australia’s ecosystem as habitat, marine life and vegetations (both land and sea) as they
gradually decimate. The loss of species through deforestation from the bushfires and coral
damage is would be costly as Australia is home to some of the world’s most endangered
species (e.g. tree-kangaroo and dugong). The eradication of these vegetations will also further
worsen the issue of CO2 emission as these vegetations have an important part in the
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THE UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE OF COAL MINING INDUSTRY
Utilitarian theory was first formulated in the eighteenth century by Jeremy Bentham and later
refined by John Stuart Mill. Utilitarian look beyond self-interest to consider impartially the
action on the stakeholders. The stakeholders are those parties affected by the outcome of an
concerned with making decisions that maximize net benefits and minimize overall harms for
follow is the “Greatest Good for the Greatest Number.” (Stanford, 2009)
Coal is Australia’s largest commodity export that earns an estimated $55 billion in 2009.
From a utilitarian perspective, such revenue would best benefit the stakeholders, Australian
mining companies, Australian public, government and most importantly the mining jobs. It
has been reported by the International Energy Agency that the world’s demand for energy
would increase by 40 per cent by 2030 (ABARE, 2010). As the world’s leading coal exporter,
an increase in energy demand represents a potentially large amount of income for Australian
coal mining industry. Needless to say, energy services are undeniable part of humans’ basic
needs. Energy is undeniably vital for the most basic of needs, such as “cooked food, a
comfortable living temperature, lighting and the use of appliance”. Moreover, energy is
indispensable in the daily running of other industries such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Coal provides a reliable and affordable source of energy to homes, businesses and production
industries. Without which, business are not able to go about their daily running (Knights and
Hood, 2009).
In a greater context, coal has been vital to Australia’s economic growth and has a significant
correlation to Australia’s GDP (Knights and Hood, 2009). Demand is most strong in
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developing countries and this is estimated to rise over time. In addition, the employment of
salaries paid to employees are consequently spent in the economy, which increases the
demand for goods and services resulting in the creation of even more jobs (Knights and
Hood, 2008). Without the coal industry, a good percentage of employees may lose their jobs.
It is reported that the coal industry employs more than 300,000 people a year (ABS, 2009). In
addition, Knights and Hood argues that the coal industry causes a flow-on effect to non-coal
sectors estimating that the coal industry indirectly employs 126,540 (2009).
Corporate social responsibility has become an important issue nowadays in the corporate
world. However, corporations tend to pay more attention in term of social responsibilities to
developed countries than developing countries (Kapelus, 2002). Indigenous groups have
always been opposed to the idea of mining for energy in Australia (Kapelus, 2002). This is
due to a wide range of issues such as profit-flows, representation on the company board and
compensation measures (Kapelus, 2002). Often, the company is willing to pay the indigenous
group a price in order to gain the right to mine, regardless of the damage caused to the
environment. In order to satisfy the interest of the whole indigenous community, the
indigenous group ignore the environmental issues related for monetary benefit.
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THE ETHICS OF RIGHTS OF COAL MINING INDUSTRY
As suggested by John Locke, human beings are entitled to their natural rights and therefore,
should be respected by others. These rights are identified as “Life, Liberty and Estate
(property)” (Locke, 1824). According to Locke the meanings of these three rights are:
Estate: everyone is entitled to own all they create or gain through gift or trade so long
Following this notion, Locke’s thoughts on the attainment of knowledge can be summed up
in his quote, “The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of
The importance of this concept can be directly related to the ethical behaviour of Coal mining
companies regarding the mining effects on the environment. Coal mining produces a few
unique major environmental effects such as the release of methane gasses that cause
greenhouse effect, the effects on water and the dust produced from the mining itself. All of
these massive amounts of emissions are extremely harmful to the environment because coal
mining is a huge industry all to itself. The methane gasses that released by coal mining are
the leading cause of global warming and climate change. The most common way to mine coal
is through strip mining, which severely alters the landscape because it removes a large
portion of land to revel the minerals underneath. Which create a permanent damage to the life
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Even before the coal consumed, the mining itself already took a great deal of negative
impacts to the global environment. Global warming and climate change will affect the life of
millions of people around this world and it directly violates the ethics of rights. One should
have the right to live, liberty and prosper, if the coal mining endangered environmental as a
whole that means it violates with basic human rights to live. Living in polluted and damaged
environment could seriously harm someone’s life because it’s not an healthy life.
Coal mining is also a dangerous mining, China produce one third of the world’s total but it
has the worst rate of fatal coal mining accident (4/5 of the world’s accidents). The fatality
rate is 14 deaths per million tons of coal mined in year 2000, which is much higher than any
coal mining countries. There are 4547 miners killed in 2378 coal mine accidents in year 2001
alone. The reason why mining safety is poor in China because there are a lot of small coal
mining companies that want to achieve high profit by reducing their cost of operation (lack of
skilled workers, inspectors, even government supervision), which cost the life of its workers.
(Wanjun, 2000)
The coal also further harmed the environment when it is burned as a fuel and creates toxic
fumes. Majority of heavy industries uses coal as their main fuel source because it is still the
cheapest source of energy today. Coal creates massive damage to the environment by how it
got mined and when it consumed. Effects of the coal use such as global warming and climate
change have already been felt and should be take in serious matter. Global climate change
could be harmful to the agriculture industry globally. Unpredictable weathers are harmful
people in agriculture business and the effects could be snowballed to the rest of the other
industries. Climate change could also lead to unpredictable natural disaster such as
hurricanes, volcanoes eruption and Tsunamis. If people wait for all these negative impacts to
happen, it will be already to late and takes time for the environment to heal itself. The society
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should start reducing the uses of coal because in the big picture it endangered the society
itself. There are a lot of other alternatives source of energy could be uses instead of coal.
Coal mining has been largely criticised as one of the main source of climate change but this
does not stop developing countries such as China to invest heavily in this area. In fact, China
officially has the largest mining industries in the world today (Wanjun, 2000). This can be
illustrated from an ethical relativism perspective. As long as mining is able to benefit China,
other issues such as pollution, deforestation and climate change are of little concern.
Frequently, the main objective of the mining owners is to maximise profits and with little
regards of whether such activity is ethical and positive to environment (Gregory, 2010).
Mining industry in China is able to provide millions of jobs and generate substantial income
for the country. Moreover, coal producing is predicted to be able to provide more than half of
China needs (Buy USA 2006). Different cultures have different standards of ethics and often
the desire for wealth come at the expense of sacrificing one’s moral value.
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ENVIRONMENT IMPACTS FROM COAL MINING INDUSTRY:
Source: (Worldcoal, 2010), (Union of concerned scientist, 2009), (Sourcewatch, 2010)
* Acid mine drainage (AMD) - the outflow of acidic water from coal mines, often
abandoned mines where coal mining activities have exposed rocks containing the sulphur-
bearing mineral pyrite. The mineral Pyrite reacts with air and water and form sulphuric acid
and dissolved iron, so as water washes through mines, this compound forms a dilute acid,
* Air pollution from coal-fired power plants - it includes sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
particulate matter, and heavy metals, leads to smog, acid rain, toxins in the environment, and
* Air pollution from coal mines - emissions of particulate matter and gases including
methane (CH4), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), as well as carbon
monoxide (CO).
* Climate impacts of coal plants - Coal-fired power plants are accountable for 1/3 of
America’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, making it a huge contributor to global warming.
* Coal combustion waste - the nation's second largest waste stream after public solid
waste. It disposed of in landfills, which are lined with compacted clay soil, a plastic sheet, or
both. When rain filters through the toxic ash pits year after year, the toxic metals are leached
* Coal sludge, - Washing coal generated the liquid coalthe liquid coal waste generated by
washing coal. It is typically disposed of at impoundments located near coal mines, because
coal sludge contains toxins, leaks or spills can endanger underground and surface waters.
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* Floods - such as the Buffalo Creek Flood caused by mountaintop removal mining and
releases large amounts of carbon through clear cutting and burning of trees and through
aquifers, removal of coal beds may result in drastic changes in hydrology after mining has
been completed.
* Heavy metals and coal - Coal contains many heavy metals. Most the heavy metals
released in the mining and burning of coal are environmentally and biologically toxic
elements, such as lead, mercury, nickel, tin, cadmium, antimony, and arsenic, as well as radio
* Mercury and coal - Emissions released from coal-fired power plants are the largest
source of mercury in the United States, accounting for about 41 percent (48 tons in 1999) of
industrial releases.
* Mountaintop removal mining and other forms of surface mining can lead to the drastic
alteration of landscapes, destruction of habitat, damages to water supplies, and air pollution.
Not all of these effects can be adequately addressed through coal mine reclamation.
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* Particulates and coal - Particulate matter includes the tiny particles of fly ash and dust
* Radioactivity - Coal contains minor amounts of the radioactive elements, uranium and
thorium.
* Sulphur dioxide and coal - Coal-fired power plants are the largest human-caused source
of sulphur dioxide, a pollutant gas that contributes to the production of acid rain and causes
significant health problems. Coalcontains sulphur, and when coal is burned, the sulphur
* Thermal pollution from coal plants - when water used as a coolant is returned to the
* Transportation - Coal transported via trucks, railroads, and large cargo ships, which
release air pollution such as soot and can lead to disasters that ruin the environment, such as
the Shen Neng 1 coal carrier collision with the Great Barrier Reef, Australia that occurred in
April 2010.
* Waste coal - made up of unused coal mixed with soil and rock from previous mining
operations. Surplus from waste coal sites can pollute local water supplies.
* Water consumption from coal plants - Power generation has been estimated to be second
* Water pollution – Water from coal mines includes the negative health and environmental
effects from the mining, processing, burning, and waste storage of coal.
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CONCLUSION
Overall, mining will always have opportunity costs to the natural environment. In Australia
alone, mining contributes to more than 40 per cent of the greenhouse gases and other
destructions to natural environment (bushfires and coral reefs). However, mining object such
as coal is an affordable, vital and abundant source of energy. Therefore, it is important for
firms to balance profitability and their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Ethics will no
longer be a debatable issue only when everyone can reach middle ground where they can
RECOMMENDATION
Companies are now adopting an outlook of ethics of care and implement CSR initiatives.
Clean coal technology has been introduced to reduce the carbon emission. For example Clean
Technology Australasia has been promoting this technology to companies around Australia
Governments too are taking an active role. In the recent election, parties have debated on
applying carbon tax. This would be an effective incentive for companies to reduce their
carbon footprint in the benefit of the natural environment. Alternative energy has also been
evolving. At present, renewable energy include hydro, wind and solar. However, the
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REFERENCES
1. Bushfire Cooperative Research Center. 2006. Climate change and its impact on the
Nov 2010.
7. Gregory, M. 2010. ‘Why Are China’s Mine So Dangerous?’. BBC News. Retrieved
8. Kapelus, P. 2002. ‘Mining, corporate social responsibility and the “community”: the case
9. Knights, P, Hood, M. 2009 (Eds.) Coal and the Commonwealth. The University of
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10. Martin, L. 2010. Mining for controversy, ABC News Rural. Retrieved from
11. Wanjun, W. 2000. Mining, Current Issue Of China’s Coal Industry: The Case Of Shanxi,
15th Annual Conference of the Association for Chinese Economics Studies Australia
12. Locke, J (1824) The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes, (12th ed.). London:
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