Thirteen years ago, on this day, July 1st, 2013 – court case hinging on a neologism…
Abstract: In 2005, Professor Glenn Albrecht wrote in this journal about the concept of ‘solastalgia’, a phenomenon he had witnessed and researched in the Upper Hunter Valley in Australia following the rapid expansion of open-cut coal mining. A combination of the concepts of solace and desolation, Albrecht’s neologism attempted to capture the distress and suffering experienced by people when their place of residence was threatened by significant environmental transformation. In 2013, the concept came before the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, in the case of Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association Inc v Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and Warkworth Mining Limited [2013] NSWLEC 48. In this case, the Court overturned a government decision to approve an application to expand the Mount Thorley-Warkworth coal mine. The Court held that the expansion of the mine would have had significant negative impacts upon the community and the environment, which would not have been outweighed by the projected economic benefits to be gained. The decision was heralded as a triumph of David over Goliath; indeed, it has been rare for major development approvals of this kind to be subsequently overturned by the Court.
SOLASTALGIA – Glenn Albrecht case https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/A_case_of_place_Solastalgia_comes_before_the_court/4315151
See also
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 396ppm. As of 2026, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that we have been changing – and more recently destroying – everything around us. It’s what we hairless murder apes do. And we forget the past because of shifting baseline syndrome.
January 10, 1991 – “Separate studies rank 1990 as world’s warmest year” #ShiftingBaseline
The specific context was the pillaging of Australia is resisted, on the ground and in the courts. Sometimes – too rarely – the ‘good guys’ win a partial victory.
What I think we can learn from this – a good neologism can help, not just cognitively, but, wow, legally.
What happened next
Haven’t looked. Usually the companies keep plugging away, eventually win by attrition. Have looked – seems to have – https://www.woodmac.com/reports/coal-warkworth-coal-mine-16458529/
You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
If you want to get involved, let me know.
If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).
Also on this day:
July 1, 1950 – “Is the World Getting Warmer?” asks Saturday Evening Post
July 1, 1957- A key “year” in climate science begins…
July 1, 1959 – Gilbert Plass article on climate change published in Scientific American
July 1, 1983 – Australian High Court “saves” Franklin River (it woz the activists wot won it)