Condamine

Our fractured future

Manu SaundersLeave a comment

This post started as an embryonic thought in my mind nearly a year ago. It’s about coal seam gas (CSG) mining and hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ – terms that are even more of a conversation-killer than the topic of my last post.

There is still a great deal of vagueness around the CSG industry, and I think the exploration companies prefer it that way.

Yet there is enough information out there if you look for it. I won’t list all the (reputable and rational) discussions of evidence that fracking or CSG mining is bad for the environment and bad for people – if you’re interested, they’re not hard to find. DeSmogBlog, Yale environment360 and Mother Jones are a good start. Also a must-see is the movie Gasland, by Josh Fox. Continue reading →

Ode to the Murray

Manu Saunders3 Comments

I’m using a few hundred words here to talk about the Murray River—a creature whose entire essence cannot be done justice in any number of words, written or spoken.

I recently stood on the banks of the Murray for the first time in my life—and I am not ashamed to say it made me cry.  I grew up in Queensland, where we are lucky enough to house the headwaters of the Murray’s equally majestic sister, the Darling.

But rivers are different up there.  Continue reading →