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Post by block12massive on Dec 8, 2022 12:07:21 GMT 1
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63892381And like night following day, the party of hindsight who have dined out for over 30 years on the fact the 'nasty Torees' closed the mines are now averse to one being reopened because of environmental concerns and not meeting "net zero commitments". Personally, given the geo-political conflicts and over-reliance on importing coal from unstable areas of the world, anything that enables us to be self-sufficient should be encouraged. I'm sure this used to be a Labour position, but who knows anymore.
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Post by sheltonsalopian on Dec 8, 2022 12:19:34 GMT 1
Hardly cause for celebration, from what I've read it's mainly for exporting as the way we make steel in this country has progressed where we no longer rely on resources from a coal mine. So we're banking on selling it to a country which hasn't quite perfected the art of steel making.
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Post by staffordshrew on Dec 8, 2022 12:43:37 GMT 1
85% expected to be exported. The price of this sort of coke fluctuates widely from $40 doars a ton to $500, currently around $300, so considered worth setting up.
All political parties are holding their noses and accepting there's jobs in it, haven't seen any evidence that labour are any different?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2022 16:52:54 GMT 1
Is a party not allowed to change an opinion in a 30 year timeframe? I mean, evidently the Tories themselves have done just that.
I’d love to see a proper cost benefit analysis, as all we’re currently hearing from the usual climate loudmouths is that coal = bad.
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Post by davycrockett on Dec 8, 2022 17:17:38 GMT 1
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63892381And like night following day, the party of hindsight who have dined out for over 30 years on the fact the 'nasty Torees' closed the mines are now averse to one being reopened because of environmental concerns and not meeting "net zero commitments". Personally, given the geo-political conflicts and over-reliance on importing coal from unstable areas of the world, anything that enables us to be self-sufficient should be encouraged. I'm sure this used to be a Labour position, but who knows anymore. Only allowed following another U turn after back bencher pressure. They’d already approved it then put on hold following pressure and COP Things are a bit different now so Labour published a fully funded ‘green’ manifesto…… labour.org.uk/manifesto-2019/a-green-industrial-revolution/It’s already been put on hold once following criticism from pretty well all the experts but hey just another U turn to meet Tory MPs happy wonder what tomorrows will be? The CCC has criticized the decision. Committee chairman Lord Deben said in a statement: “Phasing out coal use is the clearest requirement of the global effort towards Net Zero. We condemn, therefore, the Secretary of State’s decision to consent to a new deep coal mine in Cumbria, contrary to our previous advice. This decision grows global emissions and undermines UK efforts to achieve Net Zero.”
The mine’s approval was also met with fierce criticism from scientists and environmentalists.
“A new coal mine in Cumbria makes no sense environmentally or economically,” said Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, in a statement. “It will add to global CO2 emissions, as the new supply will not replace other coal but divert it elsewhere, and it will become stranded in the 2030s as the steel industry globally moves away from coal.”
Ekins also said that the mine’s approval “trashes the UK’s reputation as a global leader on climate action and opens it up to well justified charges of hypocrisy – telling other countries to ditch coal while not doing so itself.”
The government initially approved the project, but then put it on hold after a wave of protests, including a 10-day hunger strike by two teenage activists.
It came under intense pressure to reject the plan in 2021, the year it hosted the COP26 talks in Glasgow.
Alok Sharma, the COP26 President and a lawmaker for the governing Conservative Party, campaigned against the mine.
“Opening a new coal mine will not only be a backward step for UK climate action but also damage the UK’s hard-won international reputation, through our COP26 Presidency, as a leader in the global fight against climate change,” he said ahead of the announcement on Wednesday.
The decision comes a little more than a year after the conference, and after lengthy discussions between the UK government, local authorities and the public. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2022 18:34:55 GMT 1
Good work by Lisa Nandy and maybe goes some way to explaining why this decision is attracting criticism - covers the effect on jobs/demand, the climate impact and of course the competence of the decision makers.
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Post by northwestman on Dec 8, 2022 19:03:40 GMT 1
Accusations flying around Westminster today suggest that Sunak authorised the new mine as part of a shady quid-pro-quo, placating the band of Tory MPs unhappy with the government’s u-turn the day before allowing for new onshore wind development. If true, that means the future well-being of our environment is being subverted as part of a grubby deal with the climate-denying far-right wing of the Conservative Party, people with an increasing influence over Sunak.
Open Britain.
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Post by stuttgartershrew on Dec 8, 2022 19:06:09 GMT 1
From what's been reported the coal will be used for steel making (rather than be used to power power stations) with only Tata Steel being the only potential UK customer. So its expected that 85% of the coal extracted will be exported. It'll create near on 500 jobs.
As for the criticism, if the UK doesn't mine this coal then someone else will. Steel makers will simply buy the coal from someone else. So in the great scheme of things I doubt this is going to stop this amount of coal from being mined and burnt. And its reported that this mine’s operational emissions are to be lower than similar mines around the world.
I really do wonder at times what this is about for some, whether or not they are looking to the bigger picture. Or is it just about feeling good about themselves, as in as long as the UK keeps its hands clean then its all good. Even if it means having to import more gas from the US, more coal from the US and Mozambique, for example.
Fossil fuels aren't going away any time soon. If the UK does not produce them then someone else will. And the UK might well be able to do so with fewer emissions.
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Post by davycrockett on Dec 10, 2022 9:49:32 GMT 1
From what's been reported the coal will be used for steel making (rather than be used to power power stations) with only Tata Steel being the only potential UK customer. So its expected that 85% of the coal extracted will be exported. It'll create near on 500 jobs. As for the criticism, if the UK doesn't mine this coal then someone else will. Steel makers will simply buy the coal from someone else. So in the great scheme of things I doubt this is going to stop this amount of coal from being mined and burnt. And its reported that this mine’s operational emissions are to be lower than similar mines around the world. I really do wonder at times what this is about for some, whether or not they are looking to the bigger picture. Or is it just about feeling good about themselves, as in as long as the UK keeps its hands clean then its all good. Even if it means having to import more gas from the US, more coal from the US and Mozambique, for example. Fossil fuels aren't going away any time soon. If the UK does not produce them then someone else will. And the UK might well be able to do so with fewer emissions. But it does go against COP26 commitment not to open new coal mines and the 2050 carbon neutral target with the life of the mine being 27 years. What’s the point in having summit’s making commitments then ignoring them? |
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Post by stuttgartershrew on Dec 10, 2022 12:28:57 GMT 1
From what's been reported the coal will be used for steel making (rather than be used to power power stations) with only Tata Steel being the only potential UK customer. So its expected that 85% of the coal extracted will be exported. It'll create near on 500 jobs. As for the criticism, if the UK doesn't mine this coal then someone else will. Steel makers will simply buy the coal from someone else. So in the great scheme of things I doubt this is going to stop this amount of coal from being mined and burnt. And its reported that this mine’s operational emissions are to be lower than similar mines around the world. I really do wonder at times what this is about for some, whether or not they are looking to the bigger picture. Or is it just about feeling good about themselves, as in as long as the UK keeps its hands clean then its all good. Even if it means having to import more gas from the US, more coal from the US and Mozambique, for example. Fossil fuels aren't going away any time soon. If the UK does not produce them then someone else will. And the UK might well be able to do so with fewer emissions. But it does go against COP26 commitment not to open new coal mines and the 2050 carbon neutral target with the life of the mine being 27 years. What’s the point in having summit’s making commitments then ignoring them? I doubt the UK is the only one. Here in Germany for example we have had to reopen closed coal powered plants (and postpone the closure of others). And having a look to confirm that is the case its reported... More than a third of electricity produced and fed into the grid in Germany in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022 was generated by coal-fired power plants, according to a report based on provisional results and published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).I'm sure others are in the same boat. And regarding the new mine, from what is reported the pledges made at COP26 do not apply because "the coal is to be used in the making of iron and steel rather than burned to generate electricity". Was there something in the commitments made at COP26 specifically stating that no new coal mines would be opened? |
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