Own Coal Goal

The UK spent much of the Glasgow Cop meeting trying to get other countries to stop using coal. Coal is, by far, the most polluting of the non-renewable hydrocarbon fuels. It consequently seems weird that the UK government appears still agonising about whether to open a new coalmine, near Whitehaven in Cumbria (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/03/alok-sharma-cumbria-coal-mine-backward-step-government-climate-expert). People advocating the coalmine, suggest it can be seen as 'levelling up' (increasing economic activity in areas outside London). Others, however, view the mine as a profoundly backward step. You can't expect other countries to cease using coal, when you are increasing its use yourself!