The industrial stomach cannot live without coal. ~ Jules Verne

Winter is upon us, although the cold north wind has yet to come howling in, here in this green and pleasant land we have been suffering under weeks of dull grey skies. Add a lack of wind to a lack of sunshine and you get a lack of ‘green’ electricity, which means that out largest powerstation, Drax, is operating at peak capacity. Now then, Drax was built to burn British coal, but on the alter of being green now burns wood pellets expensively imported all the way from the USA and Canada. As Aneurin Bevan Wrote; This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organising genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time. There are hundreds of years of coal reserves available here, and coal is highly calorific, unlike wood pellets which burn but with a dull flame. The Industrial Revolution was built upon coal, iron, and steel. We owe our current high standard of living to the giants who drove the steel mills of Sheffield and Pittsburg, not to eco-zealots who think errecting Martian Windmills all across our countryside is a smart idea. Life is worth living, but it’s less worth living in the cold and dark. One day soon, the lights will go out.

Jack Collier