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Ffos-y-fran opencast CO2
Kelvin Mason
"If this is allowed to happen, we
might as well give up now."
When Britain's leading climate
change journalist voices such a
sentiment, it's surely time to prick
up our ears. Especially in Wales,
where the "this" is happening right
now.
Set to excavate 1,000 acres of
land to a depth of 600 feet, Ffos-y-fran on the outskirts of Methyr
Tydfil will be one of the largest
opencast coalmines in Europe.
This monstrosity flies in the
face of British government policy
and Welsh Assembly constitutional commitment to sustainable
development, and is a slap in the
face for 10,000 residents who
signed a petition opposing it.
Some of us may still mourn the
coal mines and communities Margaret Thatcher assassinated.
However, committing our children's futures to opencast mining
is another matter entirely: any jobs
created will be specialist not local;
noise levels will exceed World
Health Organisation guidelines;
and the coal extracted will pro-
duce some 30bn tonnes of CO2.
George Monbiot recently
explained how the British government connived in forcing through
Ffos-y-fran as "a land reclamation
scheme", concluding: "I hope that
a new mobilisation, supporting the
people of Merthyr Tydfil and other
blighted communities, will stop
the government from dragging us
back into the coal age."
Sounds like a wake up call.
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