Both Joanna Averley and Robert Jenrick, consecutive Tory Secretaries of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, have refused to intervene in the approval of a new deep coal mine in Whitehaven. Their argument? Coal mining is a local issue.
Here is a press release from almost exactly one year ago today.
For those who do not fancy checking it out, the point is, the Government was celebrating its success in minimizing the use of coal within the energy sector. Now, I also believe that many of us may also remember the praises of government back in 2015 when deep coal mining operations ceased?
So what on earth is going on here then?
Boris Johnson, your Prime Minister, has made a national pledge to invest an extra £200 million in carbon capture initiatives and yet sees no national issue in the construction of a new deep coal mine. How exactly are we supposed to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050 if our Government is too focused on short-term financial gain? Surely I am not alone in my concerns regarding the Government's repeated propensity to say one thing and do another? This coal mine is the complete opposite of what our Prime Minister would have us believe his priorities to be.
This mine is not some short-term money grab to be justified by "planting trees" and "providing jobs." This mine will commit our nation to multiple years, perhaps over a decade, of continued reliance on the worst polluter we know. When the mine dries up, assuming no other mines are approved (which I highly doubt given the precedent this will set), so will the jobs. The impact on the environment, however, will be irreparable. Why are we not focusing our investment into alternative solutions, such as the low-carbon technologies that steelmakers have developed? According to Greenpeace, the coal from this mine will not even be usable by UK steel producers in substantial proportions.
Radiation too?!
Besides all the issues surrounding the mining and burning of such a harmful fossil fuel, this coal mine will be directly below radioactive sediments which have settled on the Irish Sea bed and within 5 miles of the world's riskiest nuclear waste site! The seismic activity of the mine will surely disturb this... Now, I very much enjoyed the television series Chernobyl but I for one would rather not have to experience anything of the sort!
Of course, some of you may ask, "How else will we get our coal? Mining it is better than transporting it from other countries!" To which I reply, we do not NEED so much coal. If we are to have any hope of leaving an inhabitable planet for generations to come, we must turn away from fossil fuels.
Nobody on earth would willingly leave their children a world which is worse than the one they inherited. So why are we enabling Government to turn a blind eye to such a pivotal moment in our nation's history? We cannot possibly call ourselves leaders in global climate initiatives if we cannot even do right by our own shores.
Think... what would Attenborough say?
Please sign this petition and support Greenpeace in its effort to stop this.
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/government-coal-mine-robert-jenrick-climate/
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