Coal news and updates

In October, Cumbria County Council approved the £165m West Cumbria Mining plan and it has now confirmed that the government will not interfere with its decision.

 

However, green campaigners have cited concerns that the mine will make it difficult for the UK to adhere to its carbon reduction pledges.

 

Furthermore, former Liberal Democrat leader and current Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has said the project is a “complete disaster for our children’s future”.

 

“It’s utter and rank hypocrisy for this Conservative Government to claim one minute that they care about protecting our environment, and in the next give the green light to a deep coal mine,” he added.

 

Farron had urged Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick to challenge the planning application, although he decided against doing so.

 

Campaigners from Friends of the Earth have said the decision demonstrates “jaw-dropping inconsistency” from the Government, which rejected plans for an opencast mine at Druridge Bay in Northumberland last year.

 

The Government’s official report on this in September 2020 said the mine would not have been “environmentally acceptable”.

 

The mine will remove coking coal from beneath the Irish Sea for the production of steel in the UK and Europe. It has been approved twice since 2017.

 

Source : https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles