Coal Action News:

1. For Peat’s Sake – Save the Glentaggart East bog!

Download Coal Action Scotland’s ecological submission against Glentaggart East and the destruction of peat bogs here. Scottish Coal call it “degraded” and planned to dig it up, store it in a mound for a few years and put it back miraculously better than it was. But now (to appease the easily-swayed consultees)  they propose to mine around Glentaggart East’s two main areas of blanket bog – protected by “impermeable bunds” – in the hope that adjacent mining operations won’t damage it, and also in the hope that we believe they’re not just going to mine it later anyway! Stopping an opencast mine at Glentaggart East isn’t just about leaving the coal in the ground, its also about stopping the destruction of a major carbon sink and the emission of over 2 million tonnes of CO2 just from peat removal.
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2797

2. Colin Ortlepp: Next to go?

After Chief Exec Don Nicolson recently quit Scottish Coal, it’s time for Colin Ortlepp, Planning Director for Scottish Coal, to follow suit. Scottish Coal is a house of cards and its about time it came tumbling down, with its directors taking responsibility for it. Colin Ortlepp is the face of Scottish Coal’s planning for new mines, and has consistently lied to communities across Scotland, and even to Council employees. In South Lanarkshire, he’s lied about extensions to mines, how long they would operate for and haulage routes that would be used. He even lied outright to Roger Dick, Minerals Enforcement Officer for South Lanarkshire Council, about sending HGVs laden with coal through Douglas and Glespin, something he said wouldn’t happen. He’s the driving force behind the “Forward Strategy” in the Douglas Valley, pushing through more mines such as Glentaggart East and extensions such as Broken Cross North East. Come on Colin, you’re next to go!
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2794

3. Good riddance! Scottish Coal chief exec quits

In what the Scotsman has described as a “fresh blow” for the UK’s largest open cast mining company, Chief Executive Don Nicolson walked out on Scottish Coal yesterday, leaving the company “a rudderless ship”. We can only speculate how many more blows the company can take – Don makes 5 senior directors to have left in 13 months, and with two failed flotation attempts of the company, a 90% profits slump, and now a new report from the Environment Agency saying that Scottish Coal is one of the highest producers of CO2 in the industry, producing twice as much per tonne as UK Coal – surely the fatal blow that slays the beast will come soon?
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2789