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Press Release

Time to dethrone Old King Coal

8 September 2009

CPRE says new coal will accelerate climate change and destroy communities and landscapes

As the government's consultation on clean coal closes, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) questions its commitment to move away from dirty coal to renewables.

Since 1999, the government has approved 120 new opencast coal mines, often overruling local councils. And since 2003, it has spent 20 times more on extending coal mining than on marine renewables, spending just 5% of its marine renewables budget.

CPRE considers opencast mining to be highly damaging to landscapes, local communities and wildlife, and our efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

If the UK is to move away from unsustainable energy sources like coal that damage our countryside and the planet, the government must spend the money it has budgeted for clean energy sources.

Dustin Benton, CPRE campaigner said:

''Clean coal' still depends on dirty coal mining – it can only be a stopgap while genuinely low-carbon energy sources are developed. We want the Government to stop funding and approving new opencast coal mining and to start investing in sustainable, renewable marine energy.'

'To demonstrate the government's commitment to reducing carbon emissions and valuing local democracy, we are urging the Secretary of State, John Denham, to reject an application for a massive new opencast coal mine in Shropshire.'

'The Huntington Lane opencast mine near Telford will destroy 230 acres of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, at a time when the coal industry already has permission to extract 71 million tonnes of coal from existing mines', concluded Mr Benton.

CPRE is asking everyone to join its call for joined-up Government and strong leadership. Put pressure on the government - send an email to John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change: http://www.cpre.org.uk/actioncoal.



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