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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Greenfield

Gove’s defence of UK coalmine dismissed as ‘greenwashing nonsense’

A banner at a Friends of the Earth rally opposing the new coalmine near Whitehaven in Cumbria
A banner at a Friends of the Earth rally opposing the new coalmine near Whitehaven in Cumbria. Photograph: Friends of the Earth/PA

Michael Gove’s justification for approving the UK’s first coalmine in three decades is “obviously nonsense” and has no climate justification, according to the carbon offsetting standard whose credits could be used to make the operation “net zero”.

Last week, the levelling up secretary gave the green light for the new mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria, which will produce 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year from mining operations alone, not counting the emissions produced when the coal is used.

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