The Australia Institute jumps the shark again

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In their latest attack on mining, the Australia Institute have ‘jumped the shark’ yet again.

 

Only this time they have ‘jumped the shark’ while skiing on the back of a shark and wearing a sharkskin suit. 

 

“Today they are seriously claiming that some of the world’s largest energy companies don’t actually supply any energy to anyone,” NSW Minerals Council CEO, Stephen Galilee said. 

 

“Their parallel universe must also be virtual reality.”

 

With almost three billion people globally without access to electricity, it’s no surprise that our major trading partners place a priority on providing cheap and reliable electricity to their populations.  

 

It’s why global demand for NSW thermal coal continues to grow, with increased volumes exported into all our major trading destinations, including the developing economies of China and India.

 

And it’s why, according to a recent research paper completed by Robert Bryce, Senior Fellow, Centre for Energy Policy and the Environment at the Manhattan Institute:

 

‘Growth in coal consumption has been critical in providing electricity access in developing countries. Based on the results of three different estimates…between 1990 and 2010, about 830 million people—the vast majority in developing countries—gained access to electricity due to coal-fired generation.’  

 

According to this research by the Manhattan Institute, roughly twice as many people gained access to electricity due to coal as due to natural gas, and for every person who obtained access to electricity over that period from non-hydro renewable sources, such as wind and solar, about 13 gained access due to coal.

 

By their own admission, the Australia Institute are serial peddlers of economic falsehoods on mining, having been forced to admit recently that they included false economic evidence in multiple submissions lodged against mining projects in NSW. 

 

“Other claims the Australia Institute have made on mining have been contradicted by the Productivity Commission, the Commonwealth Treasury, the NSW Treasury, and former heads of the NSW Treasury and ABARE,” Mr Galilee said. 

 

“Their economic credentials are therefore non-existent and their claims should not be taken seriously.”

 

Research by the Manhattan Institute can be found here.

Contact: Chris Rath