Campaigners urge government about coal mining

According to environmentalist associations the government should block new coal mines in the UK. Indeed, Friends of the Earth, Rspb and Wwf have addressed to the ministers, saying that GB’s leadership on international climate change needs stronger action against coal.

In the letter they wrote to James Brokenshire, communities secretary, and Greg Clark, business secretary, they said: «We are writing to urge you to bring in a strong presumption against any future opencast coal extraction in England to meet future climate commitments and continue to drive innovation in low carbon alternatives».

When Sajid Javid, the former communities secretary, stopped the opening of an opencast coal mine in Northumberland, the green groups (like CPRE and the Wildlife Trusts) were very satisfied but they said: «We believe that the government should now go further». Later, Banks Group, who owns the mining project, announced a legal challenge against this decision.

The company from Durham is planning another opencast mine at Pont Valley, but campaigners claimed that the project started without necessary conditions. Moreover, a company called West Cumbria Mining is thinking to build the UK's first deep coal mine in decades. Although a planning decision has been repeatedly delayed, the firm is waiting for a ruling before the year’s end.

Environmentalist associations claimed that both new deep and opencast coal mining should be stopped. Indeed, as green groups reminded, opencast mining is an industry that employed «relatively few people».

«We urge you to finish the job - the letter said - This could be done by strengthening the text on opencast mines in the NPPF [National Planning Policy Framework] to say that opencast and deep mines should not be permitted».