As the woes of Solid Energy - which has gone into voluntary administration - combine with an announcement that our coal-fired electricity generation facilities are being mothballed, I say good riddance to this filthy and dangerous industry.
Although I do feel for the workers who will lose out on this situation, I think that the market has provided a timely kick-in-the-bum, that I hope will shift our priorities towards more sustainable industry.
The West Coast of the South Island for example, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Perhaps we could invest in improving infrastructure for tourism opportunities down there rather than cutting large swathes of land up to reap coal, then pouring the contaminated tailings into the waterways.
I have always despised the view driving through Huntly, of the concrete edifice that seems to be of a draconian era, spewing forth secretions of air pollution right next to a very dirty lower-Waikato river.
Right next to State Highway One, this facility is hardly a tourist mecca. At its peak, the units that are being decommissioned constituted around five per cent of New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions.
