How One Billionaire Could Keep Three Countries Hooked on Coal for Decades

SYDNEY, Australia — The vast, untapped coal reserve in northeastern Australia had for years been the object of desire for the Indian industrial giant Adani.

The Mundra Thermal Power Station
in Gujarat State on India’s western
coast. Like the nearby port, it is
controlled by the Adani Group.

In June, when the Australian authorities granted the company approval to extract coal from the reserve, they weren’t just rewarding its lobbying and politicking, they were also opening the door for Adani to realize its grand plan for a coal supply chain that stretches across three countries. 

Coal from the Australian operation, known as the Carmichael project, would be transported to India, where the company is building a new power plant for nearly $2 billion to produce electricity. That power would be sold next door in Bangladesh.

Adani’s victory in Australia helped to ensure that coal will remain woven into the economy and lives of those three countries, which together have a quarter of the planet’s population, for years, if not decades. This, despite warnings by scientists that reducing coal burning is key to staving off the most disastrous effects of climate change.

Read the story from The New York Times by Somini Sengujpta, Jacqueline Williams and Aruna Chandrasekhar -  “How One Billionaire Could Keep Three Countries Hooked on Coal for Decades.”