It’s wrong for any country to subsidise fossil fuel industry

IN response to Chris Skidmore from Yorkshire NUM, (The Yorkshire Post, June 4), he is 
quite justified in pointing 
out that the £10m so far 
being provided by the Government to UK Coal is a repayable loan.

It was not our intention to mislead anyone and we suggest it is also fair to add that if banks or other private lenders had had the confidence to lend this 
money, the Government 
would never have been 
involved.

What we disagree with is more money, in the form of state aid, being provided to keep mines open in the longer term. That is what the NUM and TUC are now seeking from the Government.

We also disagree with other countries subsidising their coal. We cannot control this, but can have some influence.

Nearly all countries accept the need to tackle climate change in principle but lag behind with the firm measures needed to achieve that.

Next year, the UK will 
attend international change climate negotiations in 
Paris.

It will join calls to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

These will have little credibility if we have just bailed out our own coal mines.

On the subject of evidence, the reason I have confidence in research by Carbon 
Tracker, which I drew on earlier, is that it was carried out in conjunction with the Grantham Institute, one of the leading climate research institutions in the UK.

For those that are sceptical about climate scientists, 
The World Bank president and the managing director of the 
IMF agree “we have to have a stable price on carbon and we have got to remove fossil fuel subsidies”.

From: Denis Gabriel, Glasshoughton, Castleford.

I WORKED at Kellingley colliery for 17 years and no matter which way you look at all this, what 
you have to look at is the 
past.

If it was not for the mines and the miners, there would be no England.

What you people have to realise is that the mines and miners made this nation one of the most powerful in this world today, and we owe a great deal of gratitude to the miners and the pits.

I am sure even the Queen would not throw aside this great contribution to our great nation of coal mining.