High Court rejects the UK’s first new coal mine in 30 years

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A judge has rejected plans for the U.K.’s first coal mine in three decades, delivering a victory for environmental groups. The High Court ruling Friday follows a decision by the Labour government to drop its support for the plan approved by their Conservative predecessors. Environmental groups challenged the permission granted for the mine’s development in Whitehaven, on England’s northwest coast. The developer, West Cumbria Mining, defended the plan in court. Justice David Holgate says the plan’s assumption that the mine would not produce a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions was legally flawed.