UK authorizes construction of coal mine.It's the first time in 30 years

The country is divided.Supporters leverage employment and energy independence.Those against it fear compromising the UK's climate leadership.

• The British government has approved the first project to build a coal mine after 30 years.
• Supporters, largely from the Conservative Party, highlight the opportunities in terms of economic and employment growth and energy independence.
• Opponents point to the inconsistency of the decision with the climate commitment of the country which, in 2021, hosted the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (Cop26) in Glasgow.

It could be called a record.For the first time in 30 years The UK government he approved the project for the construction of a mine of coal.The work, which will arise in West Cumbria, promises the eldest energy independence of the country and the creation of jobs.The decision inevitably raised strong eyebrows protests by both environmentalists and some parliamentarians who define it as a "climate crime against humanity“.

The first coal mine in 30 years

The mine will be built near the city of Whitehaven, in the county of Cumbria in the north-west of England, and will allow extraction coke, also known as carbon coke, a artificial coal obtained through a process of heating fossil coal, in this case the litantrace, in the absence of air and a temperatures above 900°C.

In reality, the West Cumbria Mining Ltd (Wcm), a private UK company known for producing metallurgical coal, had already received the green light to mine coal until 2049 from the local county council in 2020.Government approval was only suspended at the beginning of 2021, before the climate conference in Glasgow, COP26, which at the final whistle in the Glasgow Pact saved the most polluting fossil fuel in the world.

In fact, the work, with an estimated value of £165 million, receives the approval of Michael Andrew Gove, member of the Conservative Party, since October this year Secretary of State for Equalities, Housing and Communities and Minister for Inter-Governmental Relations.Gove, reports the news organization's website BBC News, said he was “satisfied with the existence of a British and European market for coal” and agreed with some assessments that deem the climate effects of coking coal extraction “relatively neutral and not significant”.

The Gove-led department remarked on the consistency of the decision with the policies in the matter of reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and employment:the construction of the mine is expected to provide employment to 500 people and it will be the engine ofsteel industry national and European, as well as the national economy.Part of the local representation espouses this position: Chris Whiteside, Conservative city councilor, said that carbon coke is “less harmful to the planet than importing coal from United States or from Russia“.

Protests from politicians and environmentalists

This was not enough to appease the disappointment of politicians and environmentalists, analysts and experts.The decision could highlight divisions within the Conservative Party:if, for example, the former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and the president of Cop Alok Sharma highlighted a fundamental inconsistency with the UK's climate objectives, other MPs from the same camp supported job creation and economic growth.Among these is the former president of the Conservative Party Jake Berry who, in a tweet, spoke of "good news for the north and for common sense".

In the same political group, Lord Deben, president of Independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) of the United Kingdom and a member of the House of Lords, defined the decision as "absolutely indefensible", underlining the possible compromise of the British leadership in the activities against climate changes.In opposition Edward Samuel Miliband, leader of the Labor Party, said the mine was “not a solution to the energy crisis” and “does not provide long-term, secure jobs”.

The CCC has in fact underlined that 85 percent of the coal produced by the mine will be exported and that demand for carbon coke is declining.Other research they predict that, at best, less than 10 percent of the fossil fuel produced will be used and by the mid-2030s the fuel will remain virtually unused.This is also in light of the will of the two principals steel producers of the country, British Steel And Tata, to undertake a path to reduce climate-changing emissions in the production process.

The British Green Party claims that the decision was "cynically delayed" until the end of the British presidency's work Cop26, tearing the country's reputation to shreds.The measure, in any case, stands in contrast to government plans to increase the production of renewable energy and to level and reduce the regional inequalities.It seems to be missing, as pointed out by the local environmental group South Lakes action on climate change (SLACC), “significant action on the climate and ecological emergency” by the United Kingdom.Initiative which would include greater investments in projects linked to renewable sources and the creation of green jobs for real energy independence.