An elaborate con trick…
Whenever I find myself chatting casually about heritage railways, the subject of coal and the closure of UK mines invariably pops up.
“Well that seems like a good thing to me” often comes the response, but seeing the expression on my face it’s quickly followed by “Er, isn’t it?!”
No. It’s not… and a quick run through the UK’s essential industrial usage, an explanation of the impact on steam railways, and a couple of relevant stats on the excessive emissions generated by imports, and it’s soon realised that ‘the dirty black stuff’ is not the villain it’s made out to be.
But such casual exchanges are easy. It’s when you encounter the deeply ingrained views that you know there’s a problem; the sort often held by people who don’t really want the truth and who aren’t willing to consider evidence or viewpoints that contradict their beliefs. The sort that posted this on social media: “One of England’s last coal mines is closing. This is great news… We just need a transition to green jobs for every person employed in the coal industry.”
Coming from the Green Party, perhaps it wasn’t a surprising post but, while I’m actually fairly green in my approach to life, I’m a realist as well, so I commented – in fact it was the first comment on the posting – saying: “No, this is not great news because we need the transition in place before UK mining ends – including the transition to new technologies. The UK still makes and needs steel, cement and other products and services all produced using coal – and only coal. This will continue for some years until new processes are developed and in place. In the meantime, for the 5 to 6 million tonnes of coal still needed every year, we will now rely on imports from Russia, the US and even Australia, all mined and transported at massively higher greenhouse emissions than by using coal mined locally in the UK”.
What followed was a range of inconsistent and often contradictory comments and attempted rebuttals, all following the well-worn party spin and regurgitating all the usual PR lines. It all became a bit of a joust, with comment after comment failing – or refusing – to appreciate that coal is still essential to UK industry, heritage steam and other businesses. No knowledge or interest in understanding that coal will now travel thousands of miles to get here, resulting in greatly increased emissions. And no acknowledgement that if, as was suggested, we stop making steel and cement in the UK, we will simply import it, further increasing emissions.
And of course, with the refusal of the proposed Highthorn mine, those with such ingrained misinformed views are at it again.
The closure of the Bradley mine and the Government’s blocking of Highthorn means that mining in England is now at a standstill, while Scotland’s last mine closed in July.
In Cardiff, the Welsh Government is currently consulting on its draft Coal Policy for Wales which states: ‘Energy policy in Wales is focused on supporting low carbon generation. This draft coal policy is part of the Welsh government’s decisive shift away from the use of fossil fuels in order to tackle the climate emergency… and states that proposals for open-cast, deep mine development should not be permitted.’
As former Daily Telegraph editor Dominic Lawson stated when writing in the Daily Mail: “This whole business is an elaborate British con trick, at least in carbon accounting terms. Not only is the world’s CO2 not reduced, but emissions are actually increased because of those generated by transporting the coal from Russia, the US and even as far away as Australia.”
This ‘elaborate British con trick’ risks hitting UK steam railways increasingly hard. But it’s far from just about emissions. For heritage railways it’s also about jobs, the visitor economy, our nation’s heritage, wellbeing, skills and local communities; so, while the HRA’s response to the Welsh consultation will be insightful and robust, we now have little choice but to also focus on importing.
There’s much to do…