Yorkshire Against New CoalLeeds City Council rejects plans that would emit nearly 3 million tonnes of climate wrecking emissions.
Posted by YANC in Uncategorized on June 5th, 2009
Yesterday, the Plans Panel (east) of Leeds City Council rejected the application from Banks Developments to rip 875,000 tonnes of coal out of the ground from an open cast coal mine directly opposite the Fairburn Ings nature Reserve, near Castleford.
Chris Mackins, spokesperson for Yorkshire Against New Coal who urged the panel to reject the application on climate change grounds confirmed that “this is a victory for common sense and for climate protection” as now more than 2.57 million tonnes of CO2 will be prevented from being released into the atmosphere. This would also have caused more than £133 million in associated climate change damage.
The officer’s report was weighted heavily in favour of the applicant. Comments from the panel included the need to consider public opinion, which directly contrasted the officer’s report which advised the committee that public opinion was not enough to reject the application. There were more than 1600 individual objections of which YANC had contributed a submission of 1100 objections based on climate change.
Another councillor acknowledged the need to consider the carbon footprint of Leeds City Council and referred to the complete lack of references made in the officer’s report regarding climate change. Subsequent to the release of the officer’s report, YANC confirmed to the planning officer and to the members of planning committee that planning guidance should ensure that climate change is considered in planning decisions.
The Plans Panel was reminded that Leeds City Council Executive recently passed a new strategy called ‘Vision for Action’ to address the causes and impacts of climate change.
The officer’s report was also laced with distractions and assumptions about where the coal may go and made references about technology which does not exist and even suggested that this was a sustainable project!
Climate change must become an integral element of the planning process, and there is national guidance which confirms this. Planning officers have a responsibilty to guide planning committee members and ensure that there is vision and support responsible action; unfortunately this was not the case yesterday, but the planning committee made the right decision.
Leeds climate change strategy: a vision for action or opportunity for rhetoric?
Posted by YANC in Uncategorized on June 1st, 2009
The Plans Panel (east) will this week decide whether to approve or to reject the application by Banks Developments, for an open cast coal mine alongside Fairburn Ings nature reserve. The planning process has received more than 1600 individual objections letters, alongside additional objections from five Parish Councils, MPs and Councillors, as well as opposition from the local opposition group RAGE.
YANC, who have been instrumental in public engagement have also submitted opposition based on climate change grounds and have provided the Planning Officer and the members of the planning committee with planning regulation guidance, to confirm this application can be overturned on climate change grounds.
The single greatest threat to the climate comes from burning coal. Indeed coal fired generation is historically responsible for most of the fossil fuel CO2 in the air today and about half of all fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions globally. Coal fired power generation is the most environmentally damaging form of power generation yet devised.
In April this year the Executive of Leeds City Council approved the new “Climate Change Strategy: Vision for Action” which, in accordance with the signing of the Nottingham Declaration, commits the Council to address the causes and impacts of climate change.
Leeds City Council now have the opportunity to show that they are strong on climate change. Planning is integral to addressing climate change – however, the planning committee have been advised to approve the application.
Leeds City Council must reject this planning application.
YANC will be outside Leeds Civic Hall on Thursday June 4th. Join us from 11:30 to show your opposition > bring your placards and banners for a peaceful demonstration to show that Leeds City Council has a responsibility to address climate change.
SSE Preliminary results for the year to March 20009. Released May 21st
Posted by YANC in Uncategorized on May 21st, 2009
Today, Scottish and Southern Energy have again reconfirmed that they are considering building a new coal power station at Ferrybridge.
Scientists are saying we have only a few years left to curb emissions, if we are to avoid pushing the temperature above 2o and facing catastrophic climate change.
When the Industrial Revolution started some 200 years ago, it wasn’t known that the impacts of burning coal would have disastrous consequences for the planet’s climate system. The same cannot be said today. We know all too well that we are facing climate catastrophe if we continue to emit CO2 into the atmosphere. Scottish and Southern Energy web site says that their core business is to “provide the energy people need in a reliable and sustainable way”. Burning coal does not meet either of these two objectives.
Scientific opinion confirms that we have little time to avoid reaching a climate tipping point. Einstein once said that the definition of madness was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Burning coal whilst attempting to address climate change must surely constitute Einstein’s definition of madness. It is now recognised that to address climate change, we must address emissions from the burning of coal.
If Scottish and Southern Energy are to be regarded as a responsible energy provider they must not build any new coal power stations; the company owns and operates half of the county’s renewable energy generation capacity, giving them the expertise to pave the way to a decarbonised economy.
We have asked Lord Kelvin, Chairman of Scottish and Southern Energy to abandon a new coal power station at Ferrybridge and and instead pursue an aggressive pathway of developing clean renewable energy technology.
Building new coal power stations that will wreck our children’s future is not acceptable.
Do It For The Children
Our children can’t challenge the government. We can. It’s their future and we owe it to them.
For the first time in 30 years the government want to start building new coal power stations. By 2015 half of the Ferrybridge power station will need to close. Scottish and Southern Energy are considering replacing this with a new coal power station. Yet, the government has said that to tackle climate change, we must reduce our carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050.
Einstein once said that the definition of madness was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Building new coal power stations will not tackle climate change. Coal is the most carbon intense of all the fossil fuels. If we are to tackle climate change we must tackle emissions from coal.
James Hansen, climate change expert with the American Space agency NASA has said that the “prompt phase-out of coal emissions, is the one critical element in solution of the global warming problem” If we fail to address global warming “we will hand our children a planet … with climate changes out of their control”
The year 2050 is only 40 years away, so the young people of today need our generation to act NOW!
Press Release: Leeds East Planning Committee Receive YANC Film
Posted by YANC in Uncategorized on April 23rd, 2009
Press Release for Immediate Us
The letter and DVD sent out to all of Leeds East Planning Committee
Leeds East Planning Committee sent documentary film showing public concern related to coal and climate change.
Members of the planning committee of Leeds City Council have been sent a documentary video created by Yorkshire Against New Coal (YANC).
The documentary provides commentary from individual members of the public which outlines their concerns about the use of coal in a time when we need to be reducing our climate impacts. Coal is the most intense carbon intense of all the fossil fuels.
Currently, there is an application to develop an open cast mine at Ledston.
Chris Mackins from YANC said “because council planners refrain from engaging within the political process, in order to remain objective about planning proposals, it means that they do not always have direct access to public opinion”
“Climate change is a real concern and burning coal, the most carbon intense of all the fossil fuels needs to be avoided. We’ve sent the panel a short documentary which gives them a perspective of people’s feelings about what is wrong with coal and why the open cast mine at Ledston should not be approved.”
The planning committee are yet to make a decision whether to approve or reject the application.
Ends
YANC Points The Way In CCS Debate
YANC installing the CCS sign
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is often touted as the solution to climate change caused by carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations.
The idea is that we dig up coal, burn it at a power station and then ‘capture’ the resultant carbon dioxide emissions and bury the gas in big holes in the ground; like old north-sea oil wells.
Chris Mackins of YANC said: “We at YANC think we’ve found how to make this work. What is currently proposed is to dig up the coal, which is largely solid carbon, burn it, then capture that carbon and then re-bury it. Does that sound sensible to you or does it sound like some kind of perpetual motion machine?
“Why not just leave the carbon in the ground and find other carbon-free ways of making electricity like wind, wave, tidal and solar power. On top of that add decentralised energy and energy efficiency. A recent article in New Scientist (14.3.09 edition) speculates that we could provide all of Europe’s electricity with renewable technology within 30 years.
“CCS is an ‘emperor’s new clothes’ technology – wanting to bury carbon that is already buried! Why make life complicated? The carbon has already been captured and stored, millions of years ago, by natural processes. Let’s leave coal in the ground. This really is a no-brainer.
YANC installed a sign at the proposed Newton Lane open cast site to make the situation plain. The sign reads: “CARBON CAPTURED & STORED – BY ORDER OF YANC”
“Leeds City council will decide on the Newton Lane open cast very soon. Planning permission needs to be turned down on grounds of tackling climate change. To make progress on climate change – leave coal in the ground.
Coal-Fired Power Stations Are Death Factories – Close Them!
The Guardian 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.
Climate Change & Energy: Public Opinion Survey
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 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:
The results from the surveys taken in Pontefract, Knottingley, Castleford, Hemsworth & Normanton can be downloaded here .
The results of the survey taken in Ed Miliband’s constituency of Doncaster can be downloaded from here.
Love Is In The Air
The YANC Valentines card
Join YANC this Saturday from 12pm outside of the Arndale Centre in Headingly Leeds, as we send our love to the Leeds Council Planning Committee that will be presiding over the Newton Lane opencast coal mine. Choose which of the beautiful councilors will be your Valentine and write them a Valentines card which YANC will deliver direct to their door on the 13th February.
Each card has message of love and requests the councilors vote no to the Ledstone Co2al Hole – so come on down and show YANC, Leeds council and the environment some love!