Today (Sat 15th October 2022) the Scottish government has stated that the “era of coal is over”. Lorna Slater, Co-leader of the Scottish Greens, announced at their party conference the preferred position against coal mining, for all types of coal.
This is essentially a ban on coal mining in Scotland, similar to the one on fracking. The Scottish Government doesn’t have ultimate say on mineral extraction, but the preferred position means that local councils won’t be able to permit new coal mines under Scottish policy.
Image credit: the Guardian
Scotland was once the heartland of UK coal mining, as the above 2008 image shows, Scotland dominated the UK in its extraction of coal via opencast mines. The last deep Scottish coal mine, Longannet pit, in Fife, closed in 2002 and the final coal load was transported from an East Ayrshire opencast coal mine in 2020. Longannet coal power station closed its doors in 2016, ending electricity production from coal in the country. However, in recent years there has recently movement towards an application for a new underground coking coal mine in Dumfries and Galloway.
At a site called Lochinvar an Australian company, NAE Ltd wanted to extract up to 33.7 million tonnes of coking coal for steelworks in the rest of UK and beyond (there are no major Scottish steel works using coal) NAE Ltd wanted to mine between 2025 and 2051, under a massive area under Canonbie near Gretna, in South West Scotland. This would have emitted around 73 million tonnes of CO2 and around 750 thousand tonnes of methane, a powerful climate change accelerant. This announcement should stop this application from ever progressing.
The area of the proposed Lochinvar coking coal mine
Coal Action Network strongly supports the Green Party’s position that, “I’m calling on the UK Government to follow us. To make the right call for once. To ban coal extraction for good.”
The UK government is still deliberating on whether to prevent an underground coking coal mine starting at Whitehaven, a decision is due this autumn. The Coal Authority has been taken to Judicial Review by Coal Action Network in the hope that it will reverse its decision on Aberpergwm underground coking coal mine extension. There are also two Welsh opencast coal extension proposals.
The UK government has been keen to be seen to say the right things regarding coal, but has failed to take the many opportunities to stop the mining industry to date.
Today’s decision has been hard won by the communities, campaigners and organisations such as Coal Action Scotland who fought opencast coal mine applications in Scotland and created the foundations for this decision.
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From Tuesday 16th July to lunchtime 18th July, Lord Holgate heard the case, brought by South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth, against the Government’s 2022 approval of a new underground coal mine at Whitehaven.
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The UK’s last coal-fired power station closes this year, and last year is confirmed the hottest year on record. We’re pleased that the Labour Party has listened to our arguments, along with the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, and Plaid Cymru which have also ruled out any new coal mining…
Coal Action Network asked Who will stop coal? last weekend in Whitehaven, West Cumbria. At the site of the proposed coal mine, members of the local community and supporters gathered to ensure that the question of the mine is being put to election candidates. Now we need you to crank up the pressure and make sure all election candidates across the UK faces this question as they could decide the fate of the coal mine if elected…
The legal challenges against the government’s approval of a new coal mine off the coast of Cumbria will be heard in London on the 16th to 18th July.
Mining company, ERI Ltd, is applying to mine nearly half a million tonnes of coal from two coal tips dumped in Caerphilly, South Wales by the same mining industry last time it operated in the area.
Mining company, ERI Ltd, is applying to mine nearly half a million tonnes of coal from two coal tips dumped in Caerphilly, South Wales, by the mining industry last time it operated in the area. It’s vital we stop this shameless attempt to exploit the mess left behind by the mining industry to justify yet more mining. If the coal tip mining were to go ahead, it would…
Need for action to prevent new coking coal mine in Dumfries and Galloway???
Hi Isabelle, this coal mine was rendered dead in the water by Scotland’s de facto coal ban. We’ve been in touch recently with the D&G Council, and they’ve confirmed that since the announcement, there’s been no movement by the company behind the coal mine proposal.