A large number of non-government organisations, particularly environment and scientific and farmers’ groups, have taken positions in the debate over the impacts of Coal Seam Gas. It’s interesting to read, though, that Catholic Religious Orders have now intervened, raising serious concerns about the social and environmental effects of CSG, and its ramifications for justice and food security.

An article at Catholic Religious Australia picks up on Pope Benedict’s message for World Food Day 2011, and interestingly, suggests points that Church members could take up with politicians when lobbying Ministers, MPs and Senators on CSG.

These interventions add to the sense that Coal Seam Gas, as a political, human and environmental issue, straddles many apparently frozen political and ideological divisions. It may well be that the range of factors at play in CSG extraction directly lead to reflection on the systemic intertwining of a whole host of impacts. CSG could be a ‘join the dots’ exercise, as it were, for social and community action and consciousness.

Kim Jameson
FAQ Research