Despite pressure from the UK’s climate change advisors, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office says it will not intervene in Cumbria County Council’s decision to approve the country’s first new deep coal mine in 30 years. The government interrupted the development of West Cumbria Mining’s Woodhouse Colliery project , in north-west England, in October while it decided whether to call in the application or hand the decision back to local authorities. Cumbria’s council announced in January it had received confirmation that the decision to allow the coal mine would not be reversed. Since first proposed, the project has faced steep opposition from environmental groups urging the government to intervene and block it. They claim the new coal mine would emit 8 million tonnes of carbon annually, undermining the country’s pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. As the UK prepares to host the COP26 climate summit in November, […]