Left wing applaud Thatcher’s decision to close coal pits (she saved the polar bears)
MARGARET Thatcher is, perhaps, best remembered for closing the coal mines. Some on the Left hate her for it. Fast forward to today and voices on the Left are beseeching the powers that be to close the mines.
‘’If the world ever takes climate change seriously, that coal simply has to stay in the ground,’’ Mr McKibben said. ‘’There’s no physical way to burn it, or Canada’s tar sands, or Venezuela’s shale oil, and not go over the red line that almost all governments, including Australia’s, have drawn at two degrees.’’
He’s on his way from the US to Australia. By plane.
In 2009:
Campaigners from RSPB, the World Development Movement, Christian Aid, Oxfam, WWF and Greenpeace will hold a ‘coal kills’ vigil today outside the Department for Energy and Climate Change on Whitehall.
At 16.30, the organisations’ CEOs and campaigners will hold up images of glaciers, polar bears, birds, food and water supplies of the millions of people in the developing world who will lose their lives and livelihoods and a stark message of ‘coal kills’. These will represent what the campaigners believe that Climate Minister, Ed Miliband will save if he makes the right decision – to rule out new coal.
And there’s the Guardian’s George Monbiot:
…The only safe coal-fired plant is one which has broken down past the point of repair.
…it looks as if there’ll be too much coal in this coalition.
…I was at university at the time and the events seemed a very long away, geographically and culturally. But most of us felt an obligation to voice our support – without of course actually doing anything – for the pickets and their battles against a ruthless government. And, despite everything, I would still support them today. The miners’ solidarity and persistence remains an inspiration
…Environmentalists have to admit that the failure of the miners’ strike and the subsequent closure of the pits saved us from what would otherwise have been the most divisive and internecine battle we would ever have fought.
Knowing what we do today about climate change, and the disproportionate role of coal, those of us who belong to the left would otherwise have found ourselves torn between support for the unions and antagonism towards the stuff they were digging out of the ground.
Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers 1982-2002, adressed Monbiot:
I challenge George Monbiot to test out which is the most dangerous fuel – coal or nuclear power. I am prepared to go into a room full of CO2 for two minutes, if he is prepared to go into a room full of radiation for two minutes.
Thatcher and her supporters would have enjoyed the show.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 11th, April 2013 | In: Reviews Comments (9) | TrackBack | Permalink
