He assumed the issue was in hand until 2018, when he learnt that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were already 420 parts per million, not the 300 parts per million he had been taught at school. A year later, he saw rainforest burn in the black summer bushfires of 2019-20.
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“For 30 or 40 years, I was living with the idea that the government was managing this issue, so when I found out that wasn’t the case, I was profoundly shocked,” Howard said.
“I was just an ordinary Australian and I had some level of confidence that our politicians would generally do the right thing.”
Howard started sharing his anxiety with other coal miners on the bus ride to and from work and found they listened patiently, with none of the ridicule and derision he has seen on social media.
He then joined a local conservation group and started on the path that led him to the Rising Tide protest at the weekend. On Sunday morning, he was part of a large group of people who paddled out into the shipping lane in kayaks, canoes and other watercraft and prevented a coal ship from entering the port.
The protesters were rounded up by police and taken ashore for processing, and Howard said: “They were good about it – they were amicable”. He has “mixed feelings” about being arrested for the first time in his life, but described the disruption as “simply symbolic” as it had no impact on people going about their day-to-day life.
Police arrest protesters in Newcastle.
Howard said the community was disappointed that the Albanese government had not taken stronger action on climate change, and suggested it should start by banning new thermal coal mines. He added that the Coalition’s plan for nuclear energy was a “red herring” and would lead to more inaction.
Charged with disrupting a major facility, Howard will face court in January. The Minns government recently increased the maximum penalty to two years’ imprisonment and a $22,000 fine.
A NSW Police statement said 156 adults and 14 young people were arrested at the weekend, and charged either with disrupting a major facility or failing to comply with a direction by an authorised officer.
The police statement said there were “serious safety risks” and dozens of people needed to be retrieved from the water during arrests or assisted to return to shore. One police officer suffered a fractured ankle, but NSW Police could not provide further information about how that occurred.
Catley said she strongly condemned the “reckless behaviour of those who think it is acceptable to waste critical policing resources and endanger officers with self-serving stunts”.
On the Channel 7 Sunrise program on Monday morning, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said people had the right to protest “peacefully and safely”, but otherwise they needed to face the consequences.
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Plibersek said she had approved 10 times more renewable energy projects than coal mines and had stopped a coal mine because of the potential impact on the Great Barrier Reef.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told Sunrise the protesters “want Australia to be poor”.
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