Digging for truths about global warming

The 2009 "Copenhagen Accord" on Climate Change represented a massive betrayal; one that can be spelt out in a phrase: "Two Degrees Too many!"

That's the increase in global greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) that the US, Brazil, India and China are now prepared to allow for the forseeable future, even though this threatens devastation in the Asia-Pacific and "death for millions" in Africa.

Nonetheless, the impending crime mustn't be blamed just on these four states: South Africa also joined the death-dealing crew, as did the Ethiopian regime.

Did delegates who refused to sign up to the fraudulent accord have much better to offer? Most pinned their faith on dubious market mechanisms which carry their own human and ecological toll.

This special web page focuses on critical realities that most governments, and some NGOs, continue to ignore - specifically the global role of coal.

While there are manifold triggers of adverse climate change, coal usage plays a greater role than any other. This is confirmed, not only by the man who "discovered" global warming, but also in a sober scientific study released a month pior to the 2009 Copenhagen summit.  

Coal is for burning

The mining and burning of this fossil fuel has now become more vital to electricity generation than oil or gas. 

Plans by the the mining industry to excavate the "black stuff" are advancing faster than ever before.

For example, India – already dependent on coal for two-thirds of its power – will actually emit more GGE over the coming decade than at present, primarily from burning coal. South Africa intends to build a massive coal-fired power plant, partly to serve requirements in its platinum belt.

Mongolia – miniscule as a GGE "culprit" compared with most other states – is about to permit mining of a world-class coal deposit. Despite its favourability as a site for wave and wind power, the Philippines is threatened with having even more coal-fired power plants on its shores.

This isn't  the total "coal toll" by a long shot. Much of the fuel's output goes towards the refining and smelting of metals, and into cement kilns, where their contributions to GGE are highly significant.

Mining coal releases exiguous amounts of methane – 23 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2, and the prime cause of underground explosions that kill thousands of workers each year.

The burning of coal is also more egregious to human health than has so far been generally recognised. Turning coal into liquid fuel (CTL), to serve the growing transportation sector, releases 40 percent more carbon dioxide than oil when burned, according to one scientific report.

Is coal for turning?

This is not to say we can or should ban dependence on coal overnight.

Mines and Communities is acutely aware of the misery that such a precipitate decision would bring to millions. A "just transition" to alternative fuels will take time, but this makes it all the more urgent to embark on such a course right now.

We also need to develop a realistic picture of how many people and species are likely to be uprooted, thanks to exacerbated global warming; and how much of such involuntary eviction can be ascribed specifically to coal and other mining.  

Arguably, there are ways to exploit this carbon resource, which may lay claim to being "clean" and without requiring it be dug up.

In the long run, however, every proposal bulwarking the case for mining further coal, is flawed.

The big three C’s –  carbon emission credits, carbon cap and trade, carbon capture and storage – depend on untested science, dubious economics and flagrantly self-serving market manipulation for their success.  Add to this, strong evidence that there can actually never be "clean coal".

The "hoaxes" involved in trading carbon emissions permits are now being exposed. But these schemes still underpin the European Union's initiative to combat global warming.

And they comprise what passes as a climate "policy" by other states, including the US and Australia - the world's biggest per capita carbon culprit.

Meanwhile, as insurance agencies warn they may not be able to cope with claims following climate-related disasters, the World Bank sets its own cap at financing projects which risk compounding these very events.

The longer we fail to keep coal forever in the ground, the dimmer will become any prospect of saving our planet.

Climate Change

21-05-2013 Protests over bank investment in coal
13-05-2013 World Bank advocates hydropower to square development with climate change
07-05-2013 Is Germany going brown?
15-04-2013 Chilean Court halts Pascua Lama mine
01-04-2013 German village offers blueprint for rural green energy
19-03-2013 India: coal-fired power "kills up to 115,000 citizens" a year
19-03-2013 London Calling on a lesson from "Frankenstein"
11-03-2013 Coal wars heat up in Poland, EU, China and New York
05-03-2013 The Myth of China's Endless Coal Demand
25-02-2013 Arctic must be saved from "resource rush", says UNEP
25-02-2013 Coal's hidden costs make solar a bargain
11-02-2013 Smog worsens as China flags peak in coal usage
28-01-2013 Greenpeace report: Coal projects' threat to the climate
21-01-2013 Arctic oil extraction frozen, but mining to bring a melting $100 billion in investments
21-01-2013 Phulbari villagers detain suspected agents of GCM Resources
14-01-2013 India Tribal affairs minister against diluting Forest Peoples' Rights
07-01-2013 India - Relaxation in green norms "to boost Coal India output"
07-01-2013 Are we all going to climate hell in a handcart?
27-12-2012 GCM hit by protests over Bangladesh coal mine
27-12-2012 Coal Consumption Booms Amid Rising Climate Concerns
27-12-2012 China: Study on premature deaths reveals health impact of PM2.5
17-12-2012 World Bank's tough talk on climate is 'just a mirage' in Mongolia's Gobi desert
04-12-2012 Protesters disrupt Australian BHP annual meeting
04-12-2012 Chinese city publishes vital pollution data - are other reforms on the way?
19-11-2012 The elephant in all our rooms
11-11-2012 Is it too late to limit greenhouse gas emissions to 2 degrees?
11-11-2012 The Coming of a Perfect Arctic Storm
05-11-2012 EBRD's new mining policy slammed by Bank Watch
23-10-2012 BankTrack critiques new draft Equator Principles
16-10-2012 Cleaning coal? It ain't gonna happen!
02-10-2012 Coal fight looms, Keystone-like, over U.S. Northwest
24-09-2012 Polish ministries clash over the "green" and the black
18-09-2012 Rio Tinto plays 'godfather' in Aotearoa-New Zealand
12-09-2012 Australian polluters to save A$2.5 billion in CO2 costs
04-09-2012 London Calling gets the wind up, as copper receives "green" boost
04-09-2012 Enough! The Ka Nui Conference Declaration
28-08-2012 China to spend $372 billion on cutting energy use, pollution
28-08-2012 US court strikes down EPA rule on coal pollution
06-08-2012 Canadian Government's Extractive Ombudsman Admits Another Glacier Impact Case in Argentina
06-08-2012 India's big power blackout: Why coal hasn't been a savior
06-08-2012 USA: CO2 emissions are falling
01-08-2012 London Calling on yet another proposed "oceanic assault"
24-07-2012 A black future for coal?
11-07-2012 Eminent Indian panel finds Tata Mundra poses high social, environmental, economic risks
03-07-2012 US: Further legislation will curb dependence on coal
26-06-2012 Does Rio mark an End to the "Sustainability" Road?
19-06-2012 Sierra Club India: Tata Mundra Breaks Coal's 'Contract'
19-06-2012 China's greenhouse emissions may be greater than previously thought
12-06-2012 Australia halts approval for massive $10 bn coal project
12-06-2012 Climate change threatens coal and nuclear-fired electricity
05-06-2012 USA: The biggest climate victory you never heard of
05-06-2012 Out of the Woods: can Australia overcome fatal carbon flaws?
05-06-2012 Eskom coal plants might be at risk
29-05-2012 Don't Bank on Coal, demand European NGOs
29-05-2012 African civil society condemns forthcoming Summit's false agenda
24-05-2012 Protestas jaquean la generación de energía para nuevas minas, Chile
22-05-2012 Indigenous Peoples speak out at UN Permanent Forum
08-05-2012 US banks risk public health and climate by financing coal
01-05-2012 How Oregon can generate a low-carbon future by going coal-free
02-04-2012 USA proposes carbon pollution standard for future power plants
02-04-2012 CARBON in CONFLICT
27-03-2012 Andean statement: To defend water is to defend life
27-03-2012 Australia's mineral resource rent tax passes into law
20-02-2012 Más extracción de carbón en Brasil y Colombia
20-02-2012 Bangladesh rushes head-long into coal
14-02-2012 Miles marchan por el derecho al agua en Perú
07-02-2012 Is China's carbon tax proposal merely "political theatre"?
31-01-2012 República Dominicana: preocupación en Bonao y La Vega por expansión de Falcondo
31-01-2012 Australian farmers face a "future sold off for ever"
31-01-2012 Fossil fuels are sub-prime assets, Bank of England governor is warned
16-01-2012 "Sernageomin fue poco serio al aprobar Mina Invierno" afirman en Chile
10-01-2012 Philippines: Another natural disaster reignites the mining debate
27-12-2011 Is Europe's carbon trading scheme merely hot air?
27-12-2011 US sets out to curb toxic emissions from burning coal
12-12-2011 Coal: And now for the good news!
05-12-2011 South Africa: World Bank-backed coal project roundly criticised
05-12-2011 Who needs coal? Who needs nuclear?
30-11-2011 China claims "world's biggest carbon emissions cut"
30-11-2011 Australia Passes Landmark Carbon Price Laws
30-11-2011 New reports question World Bank's coal investments
30-11-2011 Will flagship carbon capture project get blown out of the air?
30-11-2011 Mining companies hold back progress on climate change
30-11-2011 US policy isn't changing on the climate crisis
14-11-2011 Canada - Harper's Bazaar
08-11-2011 Swings and Roundabouts at US Environmental Agency
25-10-2011 Australian coal blasting stopped until risk 'acceptable'
18-10-2011 US citizens face biggest health threat for years, after Republican backlash
18-10-2011 A taxing debate reaches its climax down-under
10-10-2011 China's energy-saving campaign saves 150 mln tons of coal
26-09-2011 Australia's "clean power" myth
19-09-2011 Australian PM Introduces Controversial Carbon Laws
12-09-2011 Australia's carbon tax debate ignites
12-09-2011 Tibetan plateau threatened by "ecological destruction"
06-09-2011 Mining the Arctic - a massive con?
06-09-2011 Environmentalists Call on Shareholders to Stop Australian Mega Coal Mine
30-08-2011 Australia Passes CO2 Offset Laws, Carbon Pricing Next
23-08-2011 Chile aprobó explotación de carbón en la Patagonia
23-08-2011 Chile approves controversial coal mine in Patagonia
23-08-2011 Australians ignite around Coal and Food
08-08-2011 Indonesians demand "Climate Justice"
08-08-2011 Nuclear: too hot to handle
01-08-2011 Nuevo informe denuncia que Barrick Gold afectó glaciares en Pascua Lama-Veladero
01-08-2011 Another report says Barrick Gold damaged glaciers in Pascua Lama-Veladero
25-07-2011 Polémico proyecto de extracción de carbón avanza en la Patagonia chilena
25-07-2011 Despite widespread opposition, Chile's Isla Riesco coal project moves forward
25-07-2011 Fighting the minerals-petroleum-coal complex's wealth and woes
25-07-2011 WTO Row Spotlights Nations Clamping Down On Resources
25-07-2011 US spending cuts threaten a raft of vital environmental measure
18-07-2011 Australian carbon tax treatment is unfair, claim coal miners
18-07-2011 Impuesto australiano al carbono choca con empresas mineras
04-07-2011 Corruption alleged at the heart of Kansas government
04-07-2011 ICEM Condemns Tactics in Australia Coal Talks
20-06-2011 Who stitched up Australia's "ground breaking" minerals tax?
07-06-2011 Climate Change is driven by Coal - IAE
07-06-2011 Oz opposition leader goes nuts over carbon tax proposal
24-05-2011 Indonesia Finally Signs Forest Clearing Moratorium
24-05-2011 Renting Bangladesh Asunder?
17-05-2011 Is US coal set to flow abroad?
10-05-2011 Xstrata in court over coal carbon emissions
10-05-2011 Is US coal coming under control?
18-04-2011 Cambodia cancels controversial mine project
12-04-2011 Australian floods were worse than estimated
22-03-2011 EPA Requires U.S. Power Plants Cut Toxic Emissions
14-03-2011 Uranium Meltdown in Japan
08-03-2011 China advierte que emisiones y contaminación pueden frenar la economía
08-03-2011 China Minister Warns Pollution, Waste, Imperil Growth
08-03-2011 "Acts of god" don't excuse mining companies profiting from disaster
01-03-2011 Brazil: is iron/steel recycling on the rebound?
01-03-2011 Greenpeace target Pascua Lama in Argentina
22-02-2011 Mineras reevaluan contratos y riesgos ante desastres climáticos
21-02-2011 Menacing Miners
21-02-2011 What happened at the 2011 World Social Forum?
21-02-2011 The deadly costs of continuing to rely on coal
07-02-2011 A minor triumph for common sense
07-02-2011 Barrick turns glaciers to dust in Chile
17-01-2011 It's not just hot air, as Björk takes on Beaty
17-01-2011 A Cop out in the Coal
10-01-2011 When Solar pits "Greens" against green
10-01-2011 As storm clouds break, London Calling gets biblical
21-12-2010 What didn't happen at Cancun?
21-12-2010 Hansen finds US presents greatest wall to halting global warming
13-12-2010 Ottawa quietly opens protected Arctic wilderness to proposed mining
13-12-2010 UK Bangladeshi citizens picket London miner's AGM
06-12-2010 Pueblos Originarios de América Latina se unen contra la minería
06-12-2010 Indigenous Peoples in Latin America Unite Against Mining
06-12-2010 Pole-axed: Massive threats posed to the Arctic and Antarctica
29-11-2010 Cancun: the science is damning, but will politicians act?
29-11-2010 Filipinos present a house resolution for coal-power moratorium
29-11-2010 In the US new and existing coal plants will run for years
16-11-2010 China "leads the world" on clean energy policy
16-11-2010 Fear Darkens Czech Uranium Mining Town
16-11-2010 Indonesia: Activists Warn Rising Permits on Mining in Forests
08-11-2010 Coal and climate change
08-11-2010 Argentinian judge grants glacier law exemptions for Pascua Lama
01-11-2010 China's environmental policy hits coking coal supply
10-10-2010 Asia, Europe groups condemn EU raw materials policy
04-10-2010 "No Coal!" - protests from the ocean to the White House
04-10-2010 Green Outcry As EU Blesses Spanish Support Of Coal
20-09-2010 Garnaut behind controversial PNG mines
14-09-2010 Chinese company says it's saving coal by recycling copper scrap
05-09-2010 US: Coal mining the mountains has investors rattled
01-09-2010 Materiales Oscuros: La dependencia mundial del carbón
30-08-2010 Dark Materials: the consequences of clinging to coal
30-08-2010 Chinese scientist sceptical about carbon capture
30-08-2010 Reducing coal use - through the back door
30-08-2010 US environment agency defends its stance against coal
30-08-2010 India's massive coal power scheme upsets the UN
23-08-2010 Mineros dinamitan glaciar para buscar oro en Bolivia
22-08-2010 Miners Dynamite Glacier in Bolivia Looking for Gold
16-08-2010 Are $14bn worth of Indonesian mining projects at risk?
24-07-2010 London Calling resumes its attack on the "capitalising" of Nature
24-07-2010 Cambodia: Villagers protest mine plan
17-07-2010 South African coal-fired plant bids for "clean development" grants
04-07-2010 Steel producers to enforce scrap price cut - Brazil
04-07-2010 European Union is considering 12 more years of state aid for coal
29-05-2010 Two statements to UN CSD on Indigenous Peoples & uranium
07-05-2010 Colorado Enacts Law Replacing Coal Power with Cleaner Energy
07-05-2010 Mining protests overshadow climate summit
20-04-2010 Corrigiendo los errores del "fraude" de Copenague
18-04-2010 Righting the wrongs of Copenhagen's "fraud"
08-04-2010 "Below 2C" Opens New Rift In U.N. Climate Battle
31-03-2010 Borneo bears the brunt of "Deadly Coal"
31-03-2010 Black and White Unite against Dirty SA coal
31-03-2010 Mongolian coalition calls for immediate suspension of massive new project
10-03-2010 Global Climate Battle Plays Out In World Bank
10-03-2010 The Dirty Truth Behind Clean Coal
05-03-2010 Obama's uranium power plan will set US back thirty years
02-03-2010 Climate Change's Secret Finance Weapon
02-03-2010 Groups ID Toxic Coal Ash Sites in 14 States, Demand Regulations
02-03-2010 EPA May Soften Greenhouse Gas Permit Requirement
23-02-2010 Norway plans major domestic "cleanups" - but still maintains investments in coal
23-02-2010 Bangladesh calls for more assistance to reduce climate impacts
23-02-2010 British Columbia Bans Mining, Drilling in Flathead River Valley
15-02-2010 USA: The Duke strides out in Obama's support
15-02-2010 Indonesia: Banning on one hand, permitting on the other
07-02-2010 Guyana's miners launch protest against Norwegian forest deal
07-02-2010 London Calling picks the links between a UK war criminal ...
07-02-2010 Rio Tinto, Kaiser Aluminum, try greening Wales
07-02-2010 Climate change debate must radically shift, says campaigner
07-02-2010 Bangladesh: Asia Energy makes new proposal for open-pit coal mining
19-01-2010 Pacific Islanders Bid To Stop Czech Coal Plant
19-01-2010 Government Study: Pascua Lama Threatens Glaciers
19-01-2010 Scientists decry impacts of mountaintop coal mining
11-01-2010 Guyana to increase oversight of gold mining under deal to save forests with Norway
22-12-2009 CARRYING CARBON TO COPENHAGEN:Southeast Asia
22-12-2009 Clean Coal? It's an illusion!
22-12-2009 Two degrees too many
22-12-2009 Copenhagen Accord: A Bad Deal Waiting to Happen
14-12-2009 CARRYING CARBON TO COPENHAGEN: Philippines
14-12-2009 CARRYING CARBON TO COPENHAGEN: Australasia
14-12-2009 CARRYING CARBON TO COPENHAGEN: EU & UK
08-12-2009 From Mining to Markets: the making of a mega-disaster?
06-12-2009 Hansen's pipe dream - or cold realism?
06-12-2009 Capital Markets Gear Up For Climate Change
06-12-2009 UK: NGO caucus warns of World Bank creep on climate change negotations
06-12-2009 CARRYING CARBON TO COPENHAGEN: India
06-12-2009 CARRYING CARBON TO COPENHAGEN: South Africa
05-12-2009 Coal Pollution Undermines America's Health, Physicians Advise
05-12-2009 Insurers warn about global warming: "We may not be able to cope"
05-12-2009 Coal is burning up the world, say UK scientists
23-11-2009 Norway's Pension Fund Pulls Investment in Norilsk Nickel
23-11-2009 Promised US curbs on destructive coal mining are greeted with some scepticism
16-11-2009 Ghana: Government urged to ban surface mining
09-11-2009 Obama Promises Tribal Leaders Help With Environmental Issues
09-11-2009 Mindoro execs threaten to sue Atienza over ‘patently illegal’ mining clearance
09-11-2009 Vedanta's top dog is biting on coal
09-11-2009 Conservationists Petition EPA to Block Washington Coal Plant Permit
09-11-2009 China's carbon capture project raises many doubts
02-11-2009 Locals fight 'monster' Tampakan project
02-11-2009 US: EPA Must Limit Power Plant Air Toxics By November 2011
02-11-2009 New Zealand: Rio Tinto scores a double whammy
02-11-2009 EU Metal companies play the carbon permit game
02-11-2009 World’s largest mining company challenged at AGM
13-10-2009 Turning E.ON Off!
22-09-2009 Banking on "clean energy" in South Africa?
22-09-2009 Peru: Mining aggravates water worries
01-09-2009 Stealing Vedanta's limelight: a report of the 2009 AGM
01-09-2009 Miners take up the carbon challenge - but only for themselves
01-09-2009 US Coal lobby shows another ugly face
25-08-2009 London Calling asks whether Rio Tinto will be lost (or saved?) at sea
27-07-2009 Navajos: recalling disaster, forging a green future
16-06-2009 Beating swords into ploughshares? Four US coal cases
02-06-2009 Why is China buying metals it doesn't need?
27-05-2009 World hunger: is potash the solution or part of the problem?
18-05-2009 Rio Tinto's "outrageous exercise in political blackmail"
20-04-2009 Rio Tinto attacked from all sides
16-03-2009 Coal is "greatest threat to life on our planet", claims leading scientist
19-05-2007 London Calling on a balmy (or is it barmy?) idea
19-05-2007 London Calling on a balmy (or is it barmy?) idea