ENVIRONMENTAL activists have voiced concerns to Workington’s MP about a proposed coal mine in West Cumbria.
Campaigners from Friends of the Earth attended the Maryport constituency office of Mark Jenkinson MP on Friday.
Activists handed Mr Jenkinson a letter, urging him to oppose West Cumbria Mining’s planned development for the former Marchon chemical site in Whitehaven.
The developer is awaiting a decision for its plan for a metallurgical coal mine off the coast of Whitehaven following a fraught public inquiry.
Friends of the Earth campaigners met Mr Jenkinson on Friday to explain why they think the Workington MP should oppose the coal mine before the Secretary of State makes his final decision.
Co-ordinator Ruth Balogh said: 'Many people in West Cumbria are against this mine, and we need our representatives to grasp this. Our MPs also need to grasp the severity of the climate crisis and the role the mine would have in worsening it. The floods we've suffered from in West Cumbria are directly attributable to climate change.
“And the mine's end-use emissions won't obey national boundaries, they'll affect us all. The 'death knell' of coal hailed by the Prime Minister applies to all coal mines, this mine included.”
After speaking to activists outside the Maryport office, Mr Jenkinson said: “We identified a number of shared goals like the adoption of zero emission vehicles and for greater uptake among social landlords of solar PV with the aim of increasing grid resilience and reducing fuel poverty, and a number of actions we could take collectively - such as encouraging Labour-led Cumbria County Council to use the significant bus funding they receive to support new services until they become self-sufficient.”
Supporters of the plan believe building a coal mine on UK shores would mean less emissions and a reduced impact on the environment as metallurgical coal, key for the production of steel, would not need to be shipped in from abroad.
Mr Jenkinson said: “There remained a number of unanswered questions about why they feel we must choose between ‘green’ jobs and jobs in other sectors, and of course why we should continue to import coking coal - for which no-one in the world has yet developed a viable alternative in steelmaking - from countries with often dubious environmental credentials, in some cases finding Putin's illegal war, and with all the accompanying emissions associated with transportation.”
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