Please visit http://www.yancnews.org.uk for up to date news.

The Guardian has published the following story on coal power:

The Scottish government is planning to green its electricity generation by burning more coal. Yes, you read that right. Coal is green, say ministers in Edinburgh, who in December announced a climate policy that they declared to be the world’s most advanced.

And if you can’t get your head round that, you are not alone. Nasa’s famed climate scientist, Jim Hansen, last week wrote an open letter to the first minister Alex Salmond declaring the policy a “sham”.

Should anyone south of the border, or indeed on another continent, care? Well, yes. Later this year, Britain’s climate change minister, Ed Miliband,will go to Copenhagen, to sign up to tough new targets on cutting national emissions of greenhouse gases. And that includes Scottish emissions – over which neither Miliband nor anybody in Whitehall seems to have any control. That may mess up the UK’s bargaining position – although with the UK government backing the new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent, they are making a good job of that themselves. More importantly though, the atmosphere does not care which country the CO2 comes from or where the coal that produced it was burned. Scotland has one-tenth of Europe’s coal and Salmond seems hell-bent on digging it up and setting it alight.

Click here to read more…

A documentary about the impact of new coal in the UK and the renewable alternatives that are readily available.

Focuses on a rally organised by local residents and climate change protesters at the site of a proposed opencast coal mine in the village of Ledston, West Yorkshire.

Produced in association with YANC (Yorkshire Against New Coal).

The Observer has published the following story, click the link to read the full article…

The government is expected to give the go-ahead to the coal-burning Kingsnorth power plant. Here, one of the world’s foremost climate experts launches an excoriating attack on Britain’s long love affair with the most polluting fossil fuel of all

A year ago, I wrote to Gordon Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other leaders. The reason is this – coal is the single greatest threat to civilisation and all life on our planet.

The climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear and there is a potential for explosive changes, effects that would be irreversible, if we do not rapidly slow fossil-fuel emissions over the next few decades. As Arctic sea ice melts, the darker ocean absorbs more sunlight and speeds melting. As the tundra melts, methane, a strong greenhouse gas, is released, causing more warming. As species are exterminated by shifting climate zones, ecosystems can collapse, destroying more species.

Click here to read the full article…

CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY, PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY.

PONTEFRACT, KNOTTINGLEY, CASTLEFORD, HEMSWORTH & NORMANTON

Climate change clash looms for local MPs as almost three-quarters of residents don’t want new coal power station at Ferrybridge.

A new coal fired power station is planned for Ferrybridge in west Yorkshire despite nearly three-quarters (71%) of nearby people saying that we should develop renewable energy instead of new coal.  Several Yorkshire MPs including Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Yvette Cooper, MP for Ferrybridge have so far refused to oppose the increasingly controversial plans.

The figures are revealed today as the results from a number of public opinion surveys that we carried out across the towns of Knottingley, Pontefract, Castleford, Hemsworth, Normanton and Doncaster*.  The results can be seen below, and are also available from our two reports which are available for download.

Half of the Ferrybridge power station is due for closure by 2015. Its owners, Scottish and Southern Energy are currently considering replacing this with a new but dirty coal power station*.

The people have spoken – and they don’t want a coal power station at Ferrybridge. Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper, Jon Trickett, Ed Balls and Caroline Flint are all clearly out of touch with the opinions of their constituents.  More than 80% of people in our survey have said that they are concerned about climate change and 94% say we should produce electricity in ways that don’t damage the climate.

You can download and view the full reports as PDFs by clicking here and here.

Click ‘Read More’ for the full article (3 pages).

Coal generated electricity produces the highest amount of carbon dioxide emissions. If we are to tackle climate change we need to rule out new coal developments.”

YANC wrote to the constituent MPs asking them to oppose new coal power station proposals and instead to call for an investment in clean, renewable and highly efficient technologies which in turn could create 160 000 jobs. They have all failed to reply.

However, Rosie Winterton, Minister for Yorkshire & the Humber has said that it is “vital that we have an open debate” before making decisions about future energy policy*.

A little over a year ago, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK is capable of producing 40% of its electricity from renewable technologies*.
The YANC report also shows the public acknowledge joint responsibility and ownership of the climate change problem with more than 76% believing that all parts of society should be addressing climate change – which includes government and industry.
Last summer, the eminent NASA scientist James Hansen gave testimony in a UK court and said that the “prompt phase-out of coal emissions, is the one critical element in solution of the global warming problem”.*
This lack of response is another example of how this government is out of touch with addressing climate change. Our government must show it has the leadership skills to tackle climate change. Instead what we see today is a spectrum of out of touch Cabinet Office MPs from this region refusing to debate the issue of energy and climate change.
The public have made it clear that they do not wish to see new coal developments.
For more information email chris@nonewcoal.org.uk

January 1oth’s protest walk on the proposed open cast mine at Ledston was a big success! Over 160 people of all ages and backgrounds came out on a very frosty day to add their voice to the opposition to the open cast mine. There were representatives from local opposition group, RAGE, YANC as well as diverse environmental groups across the region, such as Friends of the Earth and Leeds Against Climate Change.  Representatives from RAGE and YANC spoke at the march.

Liberal Democrat leader of Leeds City Council, Richard Brett attended and spoke at the rally and lent his support to the campaign. The march was also covered by the local press and the ITV Calender News.

Walking the perimeter of the site – at the moment, green fields, is a stark reminder of the “coal hole” it would become if the open cast mining goes ahead and just how much is at stake. This would be an unsightly blight on a peaceful corner of the English countryside, causing local pollution, noise and disruption for five years. The coal which would be removed from this landscape would also contribute to climate change, burned in inefficient, outmoded coal-fired power stations.

The campaign in Ledston is a small – but still significant part of a world-wide campaign to stop this coal madness. Imagining the destruction of the landscape around Ledston is a good way to picture the environmental disaster which is happening world-wide, as swathes of landscape are destroyed by open-cast mining and many millions of coal are burned inefficiently to produce electricity.

Please get involved in the campaign! The planning decision will be made in March, so there is still plenty of time to submit your objection letters. See the “how to get involved” page.

Walk Off Your January Blues

NO CO₂AL HOLE

It’s time to say NO!

We don’t want a dirty opencast coal site adding to climate change

Join us on Saturday 10th January 2009 to march around the proposed open cast coal mine site at Newton Lane. Meet at the White Horse in Ledston at 11:30 for a 12:30 start. We will take a route on public rights of way around and through proposed open cast site. The walk should take no more than an hour.

This protest event will be a joint venture between YANC and RAGE (Residents Against Greenbelt Exploitation).

For a map of the area including location of Ledston, see the RAGE website at: www.savefairburnings.org.uk

White Horse pub postcode is WF10 2AB. Add this postcode to multimap for directions.

Multimap link: http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=WF10+2AB&countryCode=GB

We will have some banners and placards but please feel free to make and bring your own.

If we are to tackle climate change, coal must be left in the ground. We need clean, green renewable technology, energy efficiency and decentralised energy.

Your New Years Resolution? To stop climate change!

YANC activists sending a message to the Cabinet meeting in Leeds.

Today, Friday November 28th, the Cabinet of the UK government are meeting in Leeds to talk with select members of the public from Yorkshire to discuss matters of concern regionally and nationally.

YANC (Yorkshire Against New Coal) campaigner Chris Mackins will be attending the meeting at which he will challenge the Government to put their talk on climate change and energy issues into action.

The Government, recently, made an announcement that it will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 in the newly agreed Climate Change Bill.

Currently, the Government is considering a new generation of coal-fired power stations. If the controversial Kingsnorth power station is granted approval it will pave the way for a succession of further coal-fired power stations across the country including Ferrybridge in Yorkshire.

Guy Mitchell from YANC said; “We’ll never meet our carbon reduction targets by burning more coal.

“In contrast, the Government’s renewable energy strategy consultation identifies the potential for up to 160,000 new Green Collar jobs that will meet the UK 2020 renewable energy targets.  Those targets are to produce 15% of the country’s energy requirements from renewable sources [1].

“In a time of economic downturn and significant job losses around the country, kick starting a low carbon economy is good for the environment and for job creation – and Yorkshire is well placed for a new and green industrialisation.

Yorkshire Against New Coal recognises that the government’s scheme to increase coal use and to renew outdated coal-fired power stations is a disaster for climate change, when instead, clean, sustainable and renewable solutions should be supported and developed. YANC is opposed to new coal developments and believes that:

1.    New coal exploitation should not play a role in the UKs energy programme.
2.    Using coal will prevent the UK from meeting it’s CO2 reduction objectives and will also signal to the world that coal is acceptable
3.    That our energy requirements can be met through a range of renewables and decentralisation

[1] Currently less than 6% of the UKs electricity comes from renewable sources.

Leeds resident Guy Mitchell headed off to board the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in London this Wednesday.

Guy was on the famous vessel for the day to to pick up some campaign tips for the newly launched Yorkshire Against New Coal.

Yorkshire Against New Coal (YANC) hit the headlines recently outside the Civic Hall in Leeds, highlighting the responsibility that the City of Leeds has towards climate change to the full meeting of the city Council.

Leeds City Council is currently considering a planning application to develop an opencast mine to extract 875,000 tons of coal, the dirtiest, most climate changing fuel.

YANC is campaigning against the Newton Lane opencast mine proposal near Ledston, because coal is the most carbon intense of all the fossil fuels, contributing more to climate change than any other fossil fuel.  

Last week, Ed Milliband, the government’s new Energy and Climate Change Secretary, committed the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.  Now is the time that local authorities and government must overturn planning applications that will otherwise result in the burning of more coal – sending the world the completely wrong message about how to tackle climate change.

The 55metre Rainbow Warrior, one of the most famous ships in the world because of her environmental campaigns, arrived in London earlier this week as part of Greenpeace’s ‘Give Coal the Boot’ campaign.

Guy said: “It’s great to get an invitation to board the Rainbow Warrior, especially as it came so soon after we launched our campaign. I’m really hoping to pick up some tips that YANC can use in our campaign to make sure that the proposals for the Newton Lane opencast mine at Ledston, near Leeds, get ditched.”

“We don’t need to be burning more coal for our electricity and energy requirements. Instead, a mix of renewables, decentralisation and energy efficiency can meet our needs. Global warming is the greatest issue we face. And burning coal is the single greatest threat to the climate.  It’s astonishing that there are plans for more coal exploitation right here on our doorstep.”

Response to Carbon Capture and Storage feature on the BBC Politics Show, Yorkshire Region, Sunday 12th October 2008.

Instead of  Yorkshire looking forward to tacking climate change, the Carbon Capture and Storage smokescreen will keep us fixed on the dirtiest of all the fossil fuels.
Responding to today’s comments about Carbon Capture and Storage on the BBC programme ‘The Politics Show’ Chris Mackins, from the campaign Yorkshire Against New Coal said:

“Carbon Capture and Storage is an unproven technology that does not exist on an industrial scale and is probably decades away from being technologically or economically feasible – it might or it might not work.  CCS is a smokescreen that will keep Yorkshire fixated on burning the dirtiest of all the fossil fuels when instead we should be looking forward to tackling the source of the climate change problem, through true clean energy technologies that already exist and proven to work – a combination of Combined Heat and Power and a renewable energy technologies mix. With less than ten years to avert catastrophic climate change, we cannot afford to wait and see if CCS will work or not

”Yorkshire Against New Coal recognises that the government’s scheme to increase coal use and to renew outdated coal-fired power stations is a disaster for climate change, when instead, clean, sustainable and renewable solutions should be supported and developed. YANC is opposed to new coal developments and believes that:

• New coal exploitation should not play a role in the UKs energy programme.
• Using coal will prevent the UK from meeting it’s CO2 reduction objectives and will also signal to the world that coal is acceptable.
• That our energy requirements can be met through a range of renewables and decentralisation.

For more information, contact: info@yanc.org.uk