The UK government has granted planning permission for the country’s first new coal mine in 30 years, provoking anger from environmental campaigners.
The coking coal mine on the edge of Whitehaven in Cumbria, which is expected to extract nearly 2.8 million tonnes per year, is expected to create more than 500 jobs.
But climate activists claim it will increase emissions and damage the UK’s effort to reach “net zero” emissions by 2050.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said on Dec. 7 that the coal will be used for the production of steel and not for power generation.
Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove “agreed to grant planning permission for a new metallurgical coal mine in Cumbria as recommended by the independent planning inspector,” DLUHC said in a statement….