Medway Council approves plans for first coal power station in Britain for 30 years : Hippyshopper

I hate to be the bearer of bad news on a Friday morning, but unfortunately I've no choice...

Medway Council has just given the green light for a less-than-green proposal from gas and electricity provider Eon (formerly Powergen) - a £1bn coal power station. In order for the Kingsnorth power station to be built, however, the plan still requires approval from the Secretary of State for Business, John Hutton. If the plans go ahead, it will be the first coal power station to have been built in England for 30 years.

Eon argues that the proposed power station will be a much cleaner version of the power station it replaces, with its design facilitating the reduction of C02 emissions by 2m tonnes annually. Environmental campaigners are less than convinced, however, and are expressing concerns that going ahead with this power station will open the floodgates for more to be built. Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said: "What we have here quite simply is a proposal to generate electricity by the single most climate-wrecking method in usage anywhere in the world today". Many people feel that if the government agrees to this proposal, it will seriously throw into question its devotion to tackling climate change.

Let's hope Mr Hutton does the right thing...