澳大利亚环境部长批准对一座天然气厂实行较弱的污染限值, 损害古代岩石艺术, Australia’s environment minister approved weaker pollution limits at a gas plant harming ancient rock art, despite industry claims they were unfeasible.

环境部长Murray Watt承认伍兹底(Woodside)的Karratha天然气厂的工业排放正在破坏教科文组织世界遗产所在地穆鲁朱加(Murujuga)40 000年历史的岩石艺术, Environment Minister Murray Watt acknowledged industrial emissions from Woodside’s Karratha Gas Plant are damaging the 40,000-year-old rock art at Murujuga, a UNESCO World Heritage site, but weakened proposed emissions limits after the company called them technically unfeasible. 尽管Watt最初的目标是到2030年达到低于可探测水平的排放量,但目前的技术无法达到这一目的,而且核准的较不严格的条件仍被视为保护性条件。 Though initially aiming for emissions below detectable levels by 2030, Watt concluded current technology cannot achieve that and approved less stringent conditions still described as protective. 包括土著领袖和养护团体在内的批评者谴责这一决定,认为它未能保护文化遗产,指责政府把工业置于圣地之上。 Critics, including Indigenous leaders and conservation groups, condemned the decision as a failure to safeguard cultural heritage, accusing the government of prioritizing industry over sacred sites. Woodside说,经修订的规则不构成重大成本增加,支持更广泛的天然气作业。 Woodside said the revised rules pose no major cost increase and support broader gas operations.