Mr Laws lives in Cromwell, an air zone 1 area, meaning his burning of coal breaches regional council rules.
He said during discussion in an ORC meeting last week about banning coal-burning in Milton that he was a coal user and the council would have to take the coal from his ''cold dead hands''.
He said the ORC's idea to ban coal came from a 10-year-old report that did not prove anyone in Cromwell or Alexandra had any negative health impacts from coal-burning.
''No empirical proof exists as to the burning of superior Ohai coal and [links to] any ailments suffered by local residents.''
Attempts to ban coal in Alexandra and Cromwell would be met with ''serious community resistance'', Mr Laws said. Banning coal would not alter the fact that air quality would still exceed arbitrary limits for more than 40 nights in winter.
The greatest health threat in winter months was the cold, ''not coal'', he said.
He said it was not illegal to burn coal in any of the air zones in Otago, and coal was commercially sold ''and consumed happily by residents in Cromwell and Alexandra''.
At last week's ORC meeting, council environmental scientist Deborah Mills said coal fires were effectively banned in air zone 1 areas, because it was almost impossible to comply with emission standards while burning the fuel. But coal is not banned outright.
Council chairman Stephen Woodhead said for clarity the council should be banning coal completely in air zone 1 areas.
''The [ORC] policy says we shouldn't be using it anyway. Let's be brave and consult on banning coal in air zone 1 towns,'' he said.
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Comments
Always has gone against the flow hasnt he.
Good quality coal burnt properly would likely give less pollution than the equivalent in wood per kilojoule of energy released. I have seen reports based on per weight of fuel burnt - that is poor science as the measure should be an energy measure - that is what we are burning to release.
Good on you, Mr Laws, stand up for YOUR rights and don't back down. As a popular radio talkback host says "little by little, inch by inch", the so-called powers that be will take away our rights and all of a sudden we'll discover that we have none. We have a wood burning fireplace and should they decide to ban wood fires in Dunedin, we'll be strenuously objecting. If the ORC wish to ban coal and/or wood burning fireplaces, I'd be challenging them to force electricity providers to charge consumers a fair and just price. Once upon a time our electricity account used to average $40 per month and that provided more than adequate heat, light, cooking, and hot water. These days, our average bill exceeds $400 per month.
Adding to my opinion of the stupidity of the ORC, look at what they did to the bus routes in Dunedin. If they'd even bothered to travel the new routes, I'd bet that they went in a car rather than a bus. It's virtually impossible for buses to negotiate narrow streets, and perform left and right turns without going well over the centre line thereby endangering oncoming traffic. I could say more but have run out of characters allowed by this publication.