UK approves first new coal mine in 30 years

A year after Britain hosted a major climate summit, the British government yesterday approved its first new coal mine in 30 years, stoking anger among environmental campaigners. The new mine, approved by Michael Gove, Britain’s levelling-up secretary, will take two years to build and will produce an estimated 2.8 million tonnes of coking coal a year, which is used in the production of steel. Coal is the planet’s most polluting fossil fuel, and the greenlighting of a new mine – a decision that has been delayed for years – is controversial in Britain and beyond.