Coal use must be cut

10 March 2009

On the 25^th anniversary of the start of the miners' strike (Thursday March 12^th), an environmental group is warning against any expansion of the coal industry.

Coal is a major cause of climate change, and Friends of the Earth Cymru believes its use must be severely reduced until the technology to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions becomes commercially available.

Leading climate scientists state that reducing the use of coal should be our top priority in tackling the immense threat posed by climate change. Many political leaders now believe the best job-creation opportunities lie in developing a low-carbon economy.

The director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said: "Coal burning is responsible for around half of all the carbon dioxide that human activity has emitted into the atmosphere. It is the largest single cause of climate change and, according to one of the world's top climate scientists, Professor James Hansen, 'coal is the single greatest threat to life on our planet' [1].

"Almost daily we read scientific evidence showing that climate change is happening sooner and with greater intensity than was predicted. The more rapid melting of the Arctic ice, for instance, can be viewed as the canary in the coal mine of climate change.

"As the industrial revolution began in Britain, we are the world's top emitters of carbon dioxide per head of population. Even today, Wales has the 13^th highest carbon dioxide emissions per person globally [2].

"Expansion in coal use must be resisted, until the technology to capture and safely store the carbon dioxide emissions becomes commercially available. We do not expect this to be the case until around 2020.

"Many political leaders [3] now recognise that expanding the green economy by developing low-carbon technologies, such as renewable energy, combined heat and power stations and better energy efficiency, is the best way to tackle the two main threats we face today - economic recession and climate change. It is also the best way forward to create jobs."

NOTES

1. The Observer, February 15^th 2009

2. 'Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wales' by the National Assembly for Wales Members Research Service

3. Gordon Brown has predicted, "We can expect 400,000 new environmental sector jobs over the next eight years, with a total of 1.3 million people employed in these sectors by 2017," Low carbon Summit, London, March 6^th 2009

For further information please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577