Coal seam not all bad

I read an article in the Free Times on December 22, ‘Coal seam gas is as natural as asbestos’ and felt compelled to respond to the unsigned letter.
I have lived on my stand-alone solar powered organic property for the last 23 years, occasionally making my own fuel, and growing and eating the meat and vegetables I produce.
And yes I am one of your so called evil filthy people working in the CSG drilling industry for nearly four years; in the Surat, Gunnedah and Hunter Basins, not once fracking the coal seam as they do in the shale seams in parts of America.
Yes the industry has taken off in the last two years which has caught D.E.R.M. and other government bodies by surprise.
And yes it has taken off because of the demand for CSG energy in the developing countries is driven by dwindling oil supplies; the unpopular open cut coal mines; and people like you, that wear cloths and use a mobile phone, have a computer, watch television and put solar panels on your roof etc.
And as for pollution it sounds to me you are happy to get your oil, fuel and gas and things produced  from oil, fuel and gas offshore maybe BP or EXON or how about a nuclear powered country like Japan.
Yes the gas is naturally able to be burnt to produce energy straight out of the ground unlike oil or nuclear.
The nice little plants you talk about are probably the millions planted by Santo’s on thousands of acres of previously clear felled country, irrigated by distilled CSG water, helping to reduce the green house gases.
Maybe you should direct your energy to the Wondan area and the 11,000 ha open cut coal mine or maybe you should go and live in a cave and eat grass, this is the only way you can justify your letter.
Greg Paterson,
Eukey