https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed
Being open-minded and impartial, as his tenure as a judge requires, we can take for granted that Mr Justice Preston read more broadly than the warmist epistles of alarmists and climate careerists cited in his judgment against the Rocky Hill coal mine. Alas, the views of less excitable climate scientists failed to get a mention.
Last week, the senior judge in the NSW Land and Environment Court, Mr Justice Brian Preston (left), rejected the Rocky Hill coal mine’s application to operate for a number of reasons, one of them being “to meet generally agreed climate targets” for a “rapid and deep decrease” in emissions. The case against the mine was run by the activist Environmental Defenders Office NSW, which is funded in part by the state government and at which Preston once served as the founding principal solicitor.
Mr Preston was appointed to the leading legal role in the Land and Environment Court by Labor attorney-general Bob Debus in 2005. Debus said he was impressed by his record as an environmental activist when appointing him to the job.
Upon being elevated to the bench, Mr Preston talked about how the “pressing challenge facing the court now is to engage with and to explicate emerging international concepts and principles.” He further said,
The best illustration of an international concept that has taken root locally is that of ‘ecologically sustainable development’ (ESD). The ESD principles are hortatory but lack precision. The challenge is to articulate mechanisms for translating these laudable principles into specific actions. The court has a role to play in this task. The court has begun the task in a few cases but more work still needs to be done.
