Great Barrier Wasteland

Australia is a huge island with tremendous mineral deposits and proximity to China. Miners work triple-shifts in the Western Desert to satisfy the power demands of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Geologists recently discovered a vast Queensland coalfield in Eastern Australia and the country's Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water has announced an impending decision on a shipping channel through the Great Barrier Reef. Unesco considers the Great Barrier Reef a protected site. Environmentalists fear the dredging will hasten the southern ocean reef's decline, which has been already jeopardized by rising ocean temperature. Coal is cheap power to China. The deal is worth billions. Of course this proposal is a scare tactic by the Queensland government to ease acceptance of a 'more benign' port farther from the Great Barrier Reef. Clever capitalists. It had to be the only sane explanation, for no one would be mad enough to destroy the Great Barrier Reef. Not for all the tea in China.