Cumbria coal mine scrapped

[UndercoverElephant]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99w1qjp8qko

The government will no longer defend a decision, made by the previous government, to allow a controversial new coalmine in Cumbria.

The new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, has accepted there was an “error of law” in the decision to grant planning permission for the mine in December 2022.

Consequently, the government will not now be defending two legal challenges next week against the mine – by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).

It has instead informed the court that the decision to grant planning permission should be quashed.

Hard to keep up with this.

[BritDownUnder]

West Cumbria Mining wants to build the UK’s first deep coal mine in over 30 years. It would produce metallurgical coal, also called coking coal, for use by the steel industry.

That's OK.

Like the previous government and now the new government you just allow the whole steel industry to close and import the lot and lose even more money abroad than you already are doing. The UK is poised to to be the first country in the G20 without a steel producing blast furnace. Everyone can sit at home and watch Netflix.

[adam2]

I was in favour of this proposed coal mine, regrettably.
Iron and steel are vital for a technological society and coke produced from coal is at present essential for iron production.

I see no merit in shutting down UK iron and steel production and then being reliant on imports from places with poor records on the environment.

[BritDownUnder]

The steel imported can also be of dubious quality.

[mr brightside]

I see no merit in shutting down UK iron and steel production and then being reliant on imports from places with poor records on the environment.

Seems like some type of greenwashing to me.

[BritDownUnder]

Maybe, in the court hearing the complainants should have to prove that emissions are not just being transferred overseas and would actually be reduced as a result of the mine not going ahead.