Opencast coal mines should be a thing of the past. They’re dirty, unpopular and, unless we stop them, coming to a Welsh town soon. Opencast coal mining is hugely destructive. It wrecks communities with dust and noise and the coal produced – when burned – is killing our climate.
Can you imagine what it’s like to live on the edge of an opencast coal mine?
Because that’s where I live – next to the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine which overshadows the town of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.
The dust from the mine soils people’s washing and coats every flat surface. Merthyr already has sky-high rates of lung disease. And now the same mining company wants to dig another vast opencast coal pit on the other side of the hill, at Nant Llesg.
Please help us stop the new mine going ahead by signing our petition to the Welsh Minister for Natural Resources, Carl Sargeant.
We just can’t go on digging up more and more coal – the local impacts are devastating and the global impacts are terrifying. We need to leave 80% of all fossil fuels in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Last month, Welsh Assembly Members voted for a moratorium on opencast coal mining in Wales, but the Welsh Government has so far ignored the will of the Assembly.
Welsh coal kickstarted the industrial revolution. That’s a proud part of our heritage, but it’s history now and it’s time to move on to cleaner, greener, and less destructive sources of energy.
Let’s make this decision on the Nant Llesg opencast coal mine a line in the sand – a moment at which we say together, “leave it in the ground for all our sakes”.
Thank you,
Alyson
United Valleys Action Group and Merthyr Friends of the Earth