The proposal would expand coal output at a time when climate action depends on reducing all fossil fuel production.

Other key points:

• The economic assessment of the proposal significantly understates the environmental costs of the project, by incorrectly accounting for climate damage under the NSW net zero emissions legislation.
• The economic assessment suggests that the project will reduce Peabody’s profits (producer surplus) by $123 million. Clearly, Peabody would only take such a loss for strategic reasons – it appears that this proposal is simply a first step towards a much larger expansion that should be completely unacceptable on climate grounds.
• Benefits of employment are overstated, particularly as the Mid-Western Local Government Area has some of the lowest unemployment in the country, often under 2%, due to major works as part of the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.