Award winning Australian actor and director Simon Baker, of The Mentalist fame, has joined the Fight for our Reef in a bid to stop Adani’s proposed mega coal mine.
Baker has added his voice through a personal video plea that invites the public to join the Fight for our Reef and petition Australia’s Prime Minister to reject Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.
Baker said: “Right now, our Prime Minister is trying to open one of the largest coal mines on Earth. Just inland from the Reef, just when we should be giving coal a miss.”
“Frankly, that’s so reckless it’s terrifying”.
Baker’s plea comes after two unprecedented back-to-back coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, which according to scientists has changed the Reef fundamentally.
The 2016 and 2017 events saw nearly half of all shallow water corals dying due to heat stress caused by global warming, mainly driven by burning coal and other fossil fuels.
“Our world is heating up. And we know it. But we’re still burning dirty fossil fuels like coal and gas when we have clean, safe alternatives,” says Baker.
“We can save the Reef, but to do that, we need to take immediate action,” he says.
That action is to Stop Adani’s polluting coal mine and make a rapid switch to clean renewable energy.
Watch Simon Baker’s message on fightforourreef.org.au, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.
About Simon Baker:
Simon Baker is a highly acclaimed Australian actor and director who is best known for his role in The Mentalist. He was recently awarded the 2017 Trailblazer award for his contribution to Australian screen culture and excellence at home and abroad. In 2018 Baker will make his feature film directorial debut with BREATH, an adaptation of Tim Winton’s bestselling novel. He is a devoted surfer.
About Fight For Our Reef:
The Fight For Our Reef is an initiative of the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
The campaign’s aim is to raise awareness of the single biggest threat to the Reef, climate change. Specifically, the campaign seeks to stop Adani’s massive coal mine inland of the Reef, stop all new coal mines and make a rapid switch to 100% renewable energy in order to secure the future of our Reef and its amazing wildlife.
