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| Anti-coal protesters target climate change sceptic peer | Anti-coal protesters target climate change sceptic peer |
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| Protesters have stormed a coalmine on land belonging to Viscount Matt Ridley, a prominent climate change sceptic and Conservative member of the House of Lords, chaining themselves to a coal excavator and blockading the entrance. | |
| The group, which call themselves Matt Ridley’s Conscience, raided Ridley’s vast Blagdon family estate in Northumberland, home to England’s largest open-cast coal mine, at dawn on Monday. | The group, which call themselves Matt Ridley’s Conscience, raided Ridley’s vast Blagdon family estate in Northumberland, home to England’s largest open-cast coal mine, at dawn on Monday. |
| Four protesters climbed down into the depths of the Shotton mine, which is run by Banks Mining, fastening themselves to a 500-tonne coal excavator and brandishing a banner bearing the slogan “End Coal”, while another group of around eight blocked the main entrance to the site by lying in front of the gate, handcuffed together inside drainage pipes. | |
| Related: Matt Ridley wants to gamble the Earth’s future because he won’t learn from the past | Dana Nuccitelli | Related: Matt Ridley wants to gamble the Earth’s future because he won’t learn from the past | Dana Nuccitelli |
| Miners who turned up to work at 7am have been sent home and all the trucks that turned up to the gate have been sent away. Several police officers arrived shortly after the protest began. | Miners who turned up to work at 7am have been sent home and all the trucks that turned up to the gate have been sent away. Several police officers arrived shortly after the protest began. |
| In the last year alone, 1m tonnes of coal was extracted from Shotton surface mine – which stretches across 845 acres (340 hectares) – and at least 8% of the total coal mined across the UK comes from the site. | |
| It was revealed this year that permission has been granted for two more giant open-cast mines on Ridley’s estate. The Shotton Triangle mine is forecast to produce about 290,000 tonnes of coal while the Shotton South West site has a target of about 250,000 tonnes. | It was revealed this year that permission has been granted for two more giant open-cast mines on Ridley’s estate. The Shotton Triangle mine is forecast to produce about 290,000 tonnes of coal while the Shotton South West site has a target of about 250,000 tonnes. |
| Ridley, who is a hereditary peer and was boss of Northern Rock before it collapsed in 2007, is a self-professed climate change sceptic and has written at length about the “immense economic, environmental and moral benefits” of fossil fuels, arguing that the evidence they are destroying the planet is overblown by both scientists and climate campaigners. His latest column for the Times argued for the benefits of an increase in man-made carbon dioxide. | Ridley, who is a hereditary peer and was boss of Northern Rock before it collapsed in 2007, is a self-professed climate change sceptic and has written at length about the “immense economic, environmental and moral benefits” of fossil fuels, arguing that the evidence they are destroying the planet is overblown by both scientists and climate campaigners. His latest column for the Times argued for the benefits of an increase in man-made carbon dioxide. |
| Guy Shrubsole, 30, one of the protesters padlocked to the diggers, said the group hoped the direct action would draw public attention to Ridley’s “self-interest” in the coal industry, as well as promoting the environmental importance of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, ahead of the United Nations climate change talks in Paris next month. | Guy Shrubsole, 30, one of the protesters padlocked to the diggers, said the group hoped the direct action would draw public attention to Ridley’s “self-interest” in the coal industry, as well as promoting the environmental importance of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, ahead of the United Nations climate change talks in Paris next month. |
| “Ridley to us represents the modern face of coal-mining in the UK, an activity that destroys both the local environment and the planet, and does so to benefit who?” said Shrubsole. “Not ordinary workers and miners but millionaires like Matt Ridley, who has a very public platform to say things like ‘climate change is good for the planet’.” | “Ridley to us represents the modern face of coal-mining in the UK, an activity that destroys both the local environment and the planet, and does so to benefit who?” said Shrubsole. “Not ordinary workers and miners but millionaires like Matt Ridley, who has a very public platform to say things like ‘climate change is good for the planet’.” |
| There is mining at two sites on Ridley’s land, at Shotton and Brenkley Lane. Mining royalties go to the government but the Ridley family will receive a fraction of the profits in the form of a “wayleave” payment for allowing access to the coal on their land, a sum he has refused to publicly disclose. One climate change website that has monitored Ridley’s actions closely, DeSmogBlog, has estimated the figure is between £3m and £4m. | There is mining at two sites on Ridley’s land, at Shotton and Brenkley Lane. Mining royalties go to the government but the Ridley family will receive a fraction of the profits in the form of a “wayleave” payment for allowing access to the coal on their land, a sum he has refused to publicly disclose. One climate change website that has monitored Ridley’s actions closely, DeSmogBlog, has estimated the figure is between £3m and £4m. |
| Shrubsole said Ridley needed to “come clean about his vested interests and how much he earns”. | Shrubsole said Ridley needed to “come clean about his vested interests and how much he earns”. |
| He added: “Overall, open-cast coal mining is something that government should be putting a stop to. We need to be phasing out coal power in the UK in the next decade, we need to be keeping fossil fuel in the ground.” | He added: “Overall, open-cast coal mining is something that government should be putting a stop to. We need to be phasing out coal power in the UK in the next decade, we need to be keeping fossil fuel in the ground.” |
| Shrubsole said Monday’s action was also a protest against plans to open another open-cast mine up the road in the unspoilt Northumberland coastline of Druridge Bay. | Shrubsole said Monday’s action was also a protest against plans to open another open-cast mine up the road in the unspoilt Northumberland coastline of Druridge Bay. |
| “The UK government is currently performing incredibly badly in terms of its climate change policy,” he said. “It’s going to be going to the climate change talks in Paris next month with embarrassingly little to show. It’s cut support for renewables and it’s continuing to support coal and gas power to a degree that’s going to cause catastrophic climate change. | “The UK government is currently performing incredibly badly in terms of its climate change policy,” he said. “It’s going to be going to the climate change talks in Paris next month with embarrassingly little to show. It’s cut support for renewables and it’s continuing to support coal and gas power to a degree that’s going to cause catastrophic climate change. |
| “We want the government to actually take action against fossil fuels and we want people to see the impact this archaic practice of open-cast mining is having on the environment.” | “We want the government to actually take action against fossil fuels and we want people to see the impact this archaic practice of open-cast mining is having on the environment.” |
| Ridley, who was the science editor of The Economist in the 1980s, has been very public about his doubts over climate change science. In an article for the Wall Street Journal, titled Fossil Fuels will Save the World (Really), he stated that: | Ridley, who was the science editor of The Economist in the 1980s, has been very public about his doubts over climate change science. In an article for the Wall Street Journal, titled Fossil Fuels will Save the World (Really), he stated that: |
| “Although the world has certainly warmed since the 19th century, the rate of warming has been slow and erratic. There has been no increase in the frequency or severity of storms or droughts, no acceleration of sea-level rise. Arctic sea ice has decreased, but Antarctic sea ice has increased. At the same time, scientists are agreed that the extra carbon dioxide in the air has contributed to an improvement in crop yields and a roughly 14% increase in the amount of all types of green vegetation on the planet since 1980.” | “Although the world has certainly warmed since the 19th century, the rate of warming has been slow and erratic. There has been no increase in the frequency or severity of storms or droughts, no acceleration of sea-level rise. Arctic sea ice has decreased, but Antarctic sea ice has increased. At the same time, scientists are agreed that the extra carbon dioxide in the air has contributed to an improvement in crop yields and a roughly 14% increase in the amount of all types of green vegetation on the planet since 1980.” |
| In another column in The Times this month, he said the effects of the increase of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are “are still speculative and almost all in the distant future” and argued: “At the moment, impacts from the modest warming we saw in the 1980s and 1990s are also positive: slightly fewer premature deaths, which peak in cold weather more than in hot weather, slightly longer growing seasons and so on.” | In another column in The Times this month, he said the effects of the increase of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are “are still speculative and almost all in the distant future” and argued: “At the moment, impacts from the modest warming we saw in the 1980s and 1990s are also positive: slightly fewer premature deaths, which peak in cold weather more than in hot weather, slightly longer growing seasons and so on.” |
| Malcolm Reid, 71, who lives in nearby Rising Mill and was among those blockading the gates, disputed Ridley’s claim that the mine was beneficial to the local community. | Malcolm Reid, 71, who lives in nearby Rising Mill and was among those blockading the gates, disputed Ridley’s claim that the mine was beneficial to the local community. |
| “Open-cast mining employs far few people than deep coal mining and they have a rolling set of people who work on these mines, so in terms of local jobs it’s a myth,” he said. “But Northumberland is a fantastic place for tourism, and a big chunk of our beautiful coast is being wrecked by these massive coal mines.” | “Open-cast mining employs far few people than deep coal mining and they have a rolling set of people who work on these mines, so in terms of local jobs it’s a myth,” he said. “But Northumberland is a fantastic place for tourism, and a big chunk of our beautiful coast is being wrecked by these massive coal mines.” |