LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) Environmentalists in the UK celebrated on Friday the government�s decision to hold a public inquiry on a planning application for a new coal mine in North West England, following warnings it would undermine the government's commitment to tackle climate change.
"Some (possible) good news! There's quite a way to go before Boris Johnson can call himself a climate leader, but if the government cans this plan, then it's at least a step in the right direction," Greenpeace UK wrote on Twitter.
Friends of the Earth also welcomed the "fantastic" news, with campaigner Tony Bosworth saying that it was "a startling, but very welcome U-turn" by the government.
The leader of the Liberal Democrat Party Edward Davey also took to the social media to express his relief at the decision announced on Thursday evening by the ministry for housing, communities and local government in a letter to Cumbria County Council.
Up to now, the UK government had claimed that the approval for the mine was a local matter that has to be decided by the Cumbrian council, but in his letter, communities minister Robert Jenrick said that the application had raised issues of "more than local importance" which need to be explored in a public inquiry.
The new mine project, intended to produce 2.7 million tonnes of coking coal a year for steelmaking and other industrial processes, would be the UK's first underground coal mine in 30 years.
Its construction was approved in October last year by the local council and hailed as a highly beneficial project for the impoverished region that would bring 165 million Pounds ($230 million) in investments and provide 500 jobs.
Commenting on the government�s decision, Labour lawmaker Ed Miliband said that "the saga of this mine is a symptom of a government that isn't serious about its climate ambitions and refuses to invest at scale in a green future to provide the jobs that workers have a right to expect."
Miliband, who is also the shadow business secretary, advised the government to block the project and focus instead on real solutions to secure the long-term future of UK steel and create low-carbon jobs in Cumbria and across the country.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been vocal about pioneering a green industrial revolution, setting to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 to tackle the climate crisis, as the country prepares to host the UN climate summit, COP26, in November.
However, the UK's ability to stick to its commitments has been questioned over a series of recent decisions that seemingly run counter to its pledges. Apart from the controversial coal mine, the Johnson administration has backed Europe's biggest gas-fired power station and the construction of a third runway at Heathrow airport.
