‘Beggars belief’: calls for federal intervention after extension to ‘carbon bomb’ open-cut coalmine approved by Queensland government

Hail Creek is responsible for about 20% of Australia’s coalmine methane, while only producing 1% of the country’s coal

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Environmental groups have called on the federal government to intervene after Australia’s most methane-polluting open-cut coalmine was approved for extension.

A proposed expansion of the Hail Creek coalmine in central Queensland, described by conservationists as a “carbon bomb”, was backed by the state’s government on Wednesday.