VOA慢速英语--澳大利亚青少年采取法律行动阻止煤矿扩张

A group of young people in Australia has launched a lawsuit¹ in the name of all children to block the expansion of a coal mine.

Worry over climate change is pushing the youngsters' campaign. The class-action case argues that Australia's Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, has a legal duty to protect young people and should reject the expansion proposal.

Whitehaven Coal owns the mine. It sits near the town of Gunnedah, 430 kilometers northwest of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales.

The plaintiffs are between the ages of 13 and 17. They argue that burning coal will worsen climate change and harm their future.

The case is not based on Australian environmental laws. Instead, it states that the government has a common law duty of care.

The high school students sought an injunction on September 8 in Australia's Federal Court. An injunction is a court order to begin or stop an action. The case launched in the name of young people all over the world is the first of its kind in Australia.

The mine expansion was approved by an independent planning commission. It ruled the project was in the public interest. But the final decision must come from federal officials. The federal government has not commented on the lawsuit because the matter is currently before the courts.

Sixteen-year-old Laura Kirwan is one of the teenage plaintiffs. She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she was afraid about the future.

Kirwan said it is very troubling "to think about the future and not know whether we will have a safe time. I am involved in this case because climate change is really important and is only getting worse." Kirwan wants the federal environment minister to know that "she should be protecting the younger generations."

Whitehaven Coal has said the mine would bring social and economic value to the area, including up to 450 jobs and millions of dollars in direct financial investment. The company has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

Legal experts believe that, because of its complexity², the case will be hard for the students to win. If they do, it could affect other new coal mines in Australia. The country is one of the world's major coal producers, selling mostly to India, China and Japan.

In 2019, Australian coal exports were worth about $50 billion. However, the Reserve Bank of Australia noted³ some unknowns about future coal exports. It pointed⁴ to a move toward clean energy worldwide and a slowdown in economic growth.

Australia depends on cheap supplies of coal within the country to produce much of its electricity. And, for the size of its population, the country puts out some of the world's highest levels of greenhouse gases.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

lawsuit – n. a process by which a court of law makes a decision to end a disagreement between people or organizations

class-action – n. a lawsuit in which many people join together to sue because they all say they were harmed by the same person or group

plaintiff – n. a person who sues another person or accuses another person of a crime in a court of law

teenage – adj. between 13 and 19 years old

cheap – adj. not costing a lot of money

greenhouse gas – n. gases that cause the warming of the Earth's atmosphere

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。