West Cumbria Mining public inquiry starts

 The public inquiry into whether West Cumbria Mining's planning application for Woodhouse Colliery should go ahead started this morning at 10am

The inquiry is being held online and will go on for the rest of the month. I am due to speak tomorrow.

Comments

Gary Bullivant said…
The Inspector made it very clear that this is all very well as a forum for debate, with some letting off of steam possible but discouraged, but in the end, whatever he finally recommends, the decision will be made by the Secretary of State.

But we should be clear that this is planning and mineral extraction permission for onshore only. BEIS's Coal Authority has been siting on two of the three coal licences since January and DEFRA's Marine Management Organisation license process seems to have stalled completely, with there being no workers at WCM to progress it.

So this project can only be stopped by Mr Jenrick but not guaranteed by him. The MP for Workington for one doesn't appreciate this reality.
12:34 pm
Anonymous said…
https://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/videos/34729/ivar-giaever-global-warming-revisited/meeting-2015
Professor Giaever A fair and reasonable person?
5:26 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
I would be inclined to agree with him that "nothing in science is incontrovertible" but the evidence that climate change is occurring and human actions have influenced it does appear to be strong.

And it's not just the impact measured so far in temperature which should concern us. One of the things which has resulted in temperature rising more slowly than early models predicted is that the oceans are acting as carbon sinks.

Is that good news?

Absolutely not.

It is making them more acidic.

If we let that go on indefinately it will kill much, probably most, existing marine life. Not good for those who depend on seafood or for the planet's Oxygen balance.

So I do think we need to curtail our release of carbon. My difference with the protestors is whether stopping this particular mine is a particularly sensible way of doing it.
10:23 pm
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