Monbiot: "Everything hinges on stopping coal"

August 5, 2008

Monbiot: "Everything hinges on stopping coal"

There is an excellent article by George Monbiot in today's Guardian titled "The stakes could not be higher. Everything hinges on stopping coal."

He quotes Al Gore as saying "I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."

Newsflash, Mr. Gore: in some form or another, they are.

Monbiot goes on to explain that he's on his way to the climate camp outside the coal plant at Kingsnorth (in England).

As if they didn't have enough fossil fuel related issues on their plate with the tar sands, 70% of Canadian coal reserves are in Alberta.

Below, a couple of coal related notes for those who may not have caught them in the Dominion Paper's July in Review:

Goldsource Mines Inc., a junior exploration company, discovered coal in its search for Saskatchewan diamonds. The company's shares rose from 37 cents in late April to $14 per share. With energy costs on the rise, the company says a coal deposit discovery is more valuable than diamonds.

Hopi and Dine (Navajo) communities held emergency town-hall meetings after the Office of Surface Mining rejected their request for an extension to the period for public comment on the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for Peabody Coal's plans to re-open and expand their coal mine in Black Mesa.

After years of protest in the northeastern corner of the Navajo Nation, the Environmental Protection Agency granted an air permit for the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant proposed by Houston-based Sithe Global Power and the Dine Power Authority. The Governor and Attorney General of New Mexico immediately announced a legal challenge to the EPA decision.

Workers at Drummond's Pribbenow coal mine in Colombia ended their six-day strike after being granted a pay increase.

Photo by Bruno and Ligia Rodrigues.