01-23-2021, 03:38 AM
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The prime minister has increased pressure to ban new coal mines in Cumbria.The county council approved the colony and the government decided not to challenge the decision.But the Greens wrote to Boris Johnson, saying the mines broke his promise to take the world away from coal.A spokesman for the island at risk from climate change called on the prime minister to match his speech with the action.
Why do mines have conflicts?
A company applied for a permit to mine coal in slotxo Cumbria and a consultant approved the bid. They said the project did not go against planning rules and would help spread work.But coal is seen as the dirtiest fossil fuel that raises global temperatures. The British government held the United Nations climate summit in November and launched countries 'Powering Past Coal' alliances to cut back on coal.Fiji is an alliance member - and U.N. ambassador Satyendra Prasad says opening of new mines is wrong.Investing in renewable energy instead of coal is a moral alternative to fighting global climate. Words are critical, actions are more important," he said.Titus Gwemende, from Oxfam in Southern Africa, said: “Britain continues to mine more coal with minimal participation. (Against climate change) in Africa faces pressure to halt these two standard risks that undermine climate negotiations - and I hope the UK will change course.
So why isn't the government blocking the mine?
This was a difficult decision. Community Secretary Robert Jenrick may have dismissed the council. But in the midst of the chaos of COVID, in January, he announced that permission would not be blocked because it was a "local" problem, furious environmentalists define climate change as the ultimate global problem.The government later told me that there was no reason to block the application under the planning law. A spokesman said the exit of the council's decision was in line with the Tory principle of providing decisions at the lowest possible government level.Is the government pressed to approve the mine from its own MPs?
Yes. The mine is located in the Copeland constituency in a group known as the Red Wall seat, won by Labor Conservatives. Cumbria has low unemployment (2.8% from July 2019 to June 2020, compared to 3.4% in Copeland and 3.8% nationally), but MPs argued that it should not turn to well-paying jobs.Copeland's local MP Trudy Harrison is a parliament assistant, the prime minister's luggage carrier, and it is difficult to conceive that she does not speak to her ears, although she is not speaking to. I'm about that.Do MPs in the area prioritize jobs over climate change?They insist that it is not They said the key to the discussion was that the mine would produce the coking coal needed for steel. The government is phasing out coal for power plants by 2025, but has yet to announce any plans to phase out coal.
The Climate Change Advisory Committee said Britain had to stop burning coal by 2035 to meet its climate targets. I understand the committee feared the mines could continue running, owners and workers irresistibly lobbying to continue running after that day.But MPs fear the technology to make pure steel using non-coal methods such as hydrogen will not be available by 2035, nearby Workington's Mark Jenkinson, Tory MP, told me. “It's better to mine coal from Workington in an environment. Rather than from Wyoming.Because it saves emissions from transportation, we can't let other countries get emissions tabs on our behalf. "
What do environmentalists say?
Environmentalists have long called for a moratorium for new fossil fuels, as more are discovered than the Earth could burn without causing dangerous climate change.When John Sowen from Greenpeace heard the mine approval was a decision. 'On a local level,' he said, "hopefully China will not share the same view or the world will break".He wrote to Boris Johnson, saying: "As the host of the largest global climate talks since the signing of the Paris Agreement, it is a surprise that a new coal mine has been received. ApprovalThis will make it much more difficult to achieve coalition ambitions for our coalition partners. We ask you to reverse this decision.
Labor's climate change leads Matthew Pennycook agrees. He said: "This is a mockery of the government's claim to climate leadership and it will not provide long-term work security that is not the only way to go about it." Deserve Stainless steel is the future, and ministers should be relentless in developing an industrial strategy that will attract low-carbon jobs and good investments to counties such as Cumbria.The Lib Dems and Greens agree, do pressure from MPs influence decisions?Political hearings should not influence the planning process and a spokesman for Jenrick said he did not consult other ministers to avoid violating that rule.