Should We Really Be Saying ‘Yes’ to a New Coal Mine?

Speaking as a geography teacher and someone who cares about the environment, of course the answer is no!

For those of you who have missed the announcement, last week the government approved the UK's first new deep coal mine for 30 years. The plant will be in Whitehaven, Cumbria and will provide fuel for steel-making.

Supporters of the mine, near Whitehaven, claim it will create much-needed jobs - in fact 500 jobs in a former mining area that is extremely deprived as a result of mine closures in the 1980s. However, surely ploughing this much investment into alternative energy solutions would provide just as many jobs locally - the East Yorkshire coast is a great example of what investment into renewables (in this case off-shore windfarms) can do in terms of transforming the economy.

The coal will be used for the production of steel and will reduce the need to import coal from other countries - it will not be used to provide energy for homes so therefore won't help to reduce household bills. This is significant as one of the main arguments for sticking with fossil fuels for the time being is the cost-of-living crisis, and in particular rocketing energy bills.

The Climate Change Committie (UKCCC) has warned the government that steel-making shouldn't use coal after 2035 if the UK wants to meet its climate targets - but Cumbria County Council has granted permission to dig until 2049. The government has promised to phase out coal as part of climate change targets - so the decision to open a new coal mine runs counter to Britain's climate change strategy and will undermine the UK's leadership on phasing out coal globally.

Yet, Communities Secretary Michael Gove approved the project and claims the coal mine would "to some extent, support the transition to a low-carbon future" - erm, not sure how Michael!

Unsurprisingly, UKCCC chair Lord Deben has called the proposal indefensible and that the approval would damage the UK's leadership on climate change, and 'create another example of Britain saying one thing and doing another' - particularly after we hosted COP26 and got countries to pledge to reduce their use of coal.

To quote Greenpeace - 'The UK government risks becoming a superpower in climate hypocrisy, rather than climate leadership' - but then we can argue that seeing the government put profits before anything else is something we see on a daily basis so we shouldn't be surprised.

And that's exactly how I feel about the decision - saddened but not surprised.

Read more here:

Cumbria coal mine: Will it threaten the UK's climate targets?

Whitehaven coal mine: An almighty row only just beginning

Cumbria coal mine proposal is indefensible, says UK climate chief