A petition calling for the Government to stop the proposed Whitehaven Coal Mine from going ahead is gathering pace. At the time of writing, there was 8,822 signatures on the petition.
When the petition reaches 10,000 a formal response is required from the Government.
If the petition should reach 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
The petition says:
"The UK have approved the first deep coal mine in 30 years. The effects of a coal mine will create a major setback in the British climate change efforts. The Government should revoke permission to mine on British soil.
"Dr. Laurie Michaelis, a climate expert at the IPCC, has said that emissions the mine could produce will contribute significantly to climate change."
In a social media post, Mike Starkie, Mayor of Copeland said:
"A recent poll on Mirehouse Matters Facebook Group showed 95.4% [443] of respondents [466] in favour of the mine. That would be in line with everything I’ve seen and heard. I believe the vast majority of Copeland’s residents are in favour of this mine."
A petition map on the Government website shows a large proportion of those signing are from Cumbria, with a cohort from Copeland.
The mine, costing in the region of £165 million, is expected to create 500 jobs. It was given the go-ahead by Cumbria County Council in October 2019 and would be the UK's first deep coal mine in 30 years.
