Celtic Energy and their predecessor organisation British Coal Opencast are responsible for much environmental damage. Important wildlife sites such as the irreplaceable and internationally important Selar Farm SSSI ( see Selar Farm SSSI) have been destroyed as well as other important areas for wildlife. Such as the horrendous Selar North Extension.
Opencasting is one of the most environmentally damaging activities and Friends of the Earth strongly condemns the actions of this company scaring our landscape and permanently destroying biodiversity and habitats.
We also have deep concerns about the lobbying carried out by opencast companies in general with questionable claims being made about restoration which misinform and miseducate decision makers. This makes the task of protecting biodiversity and the environment harder generally as we may have to overcome false preconceptions.
Much of the coal produced by this company is burned at power stations like Aberthaw, in the Vale of Glamorgan, which is the largest source in Wales of Carbon Dioxide which is causing climate change. Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing mankind. It has the capacity, if allowed to proceed unchecked to imperil the entirety of human civilisation. Quite simply the best solution for climate change is to stop the opencasting by companies like Celtic Energy and leave the coal in the ground. Burning the coal is quite simply a potential recipe for disaster.
We oppose the environmentally damaging operations of this company.
Interestingly, we have recently heard of the Celtic Energy Fraud Investigation.