A report published by IEEFA in May 2014 has shown that coal exported to India from the Galilee Basin in Australia would need a wholesale electricity price, double India's current level, to be viable, categorically discrediting the argument that it might alleviate India's energy poverty.

In the orginal plans the coal mine would be responsible for releasing up to 128 million tonnes of CO2 per year from burning the coal, more than the combined fossil fuel emissions of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The changed plans of Adani in November 2018, in which the capacity is set at 27 million tonnes of coal, would make the mine responsible for emitting an estimated 54 million tonnes of CO2. The mine will cover a whopping 44,700 hectare. Over 10,000 hectare of bushland will be wiped out, much of it home to threatened species. Ten billion litres of water will be sucked up from the surrounding environment and Adani already owns one huge coal terminal at Abbot Point in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and is proposing two more.

When surveying the site for the EIS, consultants for Adani sighted the endangered Black-throated finch (southern) 89 times. The company plans to clear around 10,000 hectares of important habitat for the species.

The mine will also cause drawdown of groundwater at a Great Artesian Basin discharge spring wetland called Doongmabulla Springs. The springs host endemic and threatened plant species, but these have not been assessed as part of the mine’s EIS. For one threatened plant at least, Doongmabulla Springs provides habitat critical to its survival.

The assessment also fails to analyse the impact of dramatic levels of groundwater drawdown on groundwater-dependent species and communities in the surrounding area, including gorgeous River Red Gums along the banks of the Carmichael, which are Koala habitat. The EIS states that the company expects the mine to cause 30 metre drawdown of groundwater at its greatest impact, resulting in a seven percent reduction in flow of the Carmichael River, and death of downstream vegetation.

A 2017 report by the Climate Council of Australia on the Carmichael coal mine project concluded that: for Australia to play its role in tackling climate change, over 90% of Australia’s existing thermal coal reserves must be left in the ground unburned and no new thermal mines can be developed.

Adani has a history of breaking the rules and causing environmental destruction. Adani's flagship project Mundra, the largest private port in India, is a textbook case of how to flaunt environmental regulations. Adani deliberately concealed and falsified material facts when applying for part of the development. Construction began illegally and officials found multiple violations of the development approval including mass clearing of mangroves which have been the subject of several court cases. Aside from the Mundra port, Adani was investigated by an anti-corruption ombudsman who found evidence of bribery and theft in the export of iron ore and has been the proponent of other environmentally destructive projects.

The Carmichael project is uneconomic: it is a high cost coal product in a low priced coal market with an uncertain future. Carmichael coal has a low quality, but the cost structure is likely to remain above the global thermal coal price for the foreseeable future.