The UK risks scuppering it's leadership on tackling climate change, and puts future international efforts to cut carbon emissions in jeopardy if it pursues the building of a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth.

Scientists from the US recently wrote to David Miliband to outline their objections to the proposed 'cleaner coal' power station at Kingsnorth.

"We have a deep respect for your government’s historic commitment to lead on global warming in Europe and around the world.

However, we are writing to urge you to reject the wave of massive conventional coal-fired power plants under consideration in the United Kingdom, including the pending proposal at Kingsnorth in Kent. As proposed, these conventional coal plants lack any limits on their emissions of carbon dioxide and would drastically increase the U.K.’s carbon dioxide emissions and make achievement of your stated pollution reduction goals extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible.

Building new conventional coal plants and setting the U.K. up to fail and lose its leadership mantle will make our work in the U.S. all the more difficult.”

Read more: US scientists challenge UK over dirty coal, says US groups (guardian)

Lord Smith, the new head of the Environment Agency, this week gave a cautionary warning to the government over the folly of continuing with climate damaging super projects like the third runway at Heathrow, and the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. He also highlighted the threat that climate change induced sea level rises and coastal erosion will have on the UK’s coast line and that tough choices would have to be made over whether to defend threatened communities.

The World Development Movement has also put two and two together; stating that plans for a new coal power plant are completely incompatible with plans to tackle climate change. And that huge areas of Kent’s coastline will be seriously threatened by predicted sea level rises, demonstrating the sad irony of stationing a new carbon belching coal power station in the very same area.

Millions of people all over the world are already suffering as a result of climate change. It is usually the poorest people who are left most vulnerable to increasingly severe weather phenomena such as typhoons and flooding. For coastal communities in the UK, Bangladesh, the Philippines and across the globe, whose homes, jobs and unfortunately lives are threatened, the government must be resolute in its ambition to tackle climate change. It cannot be, or even give the illusion of, being serious about this if it says yes to new runways and new coal power stations.

Read about areas of low-lying Kent due to disappear (Kent online)

Rob Newman has narrated a new film about the campaign against new coal.

Kingsnorth: a local issue goes global tells the story of the impact of coal on Kent and the rest of the world.

Kate writes from the Saturday day of action against Kingsnorth power station:

A contingent of WDM’s campaigners went on the ‘Orange’ march on the day of mass action. The march was a family friendly affair, with over 1000 people dressed in bright colours, carrying beautifully made banners with slogans life ‘coal kills’, ‘burning our future: no new coal’; and ‘yes to Kingsnorth workers, no to E.ON bosses’.

We marched from climate camp to Kingsnorth power station, picking up local residents as we went along. As we walked, residents came out to talk to us and cars slowed down to cheer or talk. We gave out a leaflet that we have produced looking at the impact of climate change in Kent. It highlights the impact of new coal power in the UK and the devastating effect that it will have in the local area, as well as on the poorest people in the world.

It took us about two hours to reach Kingsnorth, and we were greeted by only a small number of police, music and speeches and it was time to break out the sandwiches. The speakers shouted above the noise of a police helicopter overhead, and gave impassioned speeches covering workers’ rights, impact of climate change and poverty on women, the contribution of capitalism to climate change and a speaker from Kingsnorth Climate Action Medway, who are local campaigners that who spoke out about the effects of Kingsnorth, not only in their backyard, but also on the rest of the world.

The march headed back towards the camp, with some people staying behind to demonstrate their resistance to the vastly increased presence of the police in the last ten minutes of the peaceful march. We headed back to the sound of steel drums, and the time passed quickly, with a detour through the village of Hoo to talk to more people about what we were doing and why, and to pop into a shop to get some supplies for the evening’s celebrations.          

There was a round up of all the activity that had happened during the day, and people headed to their various neighbourhoods to eat, drink, dance and chat some more about the clean development mechanism…I, however, managed to fall asleep by 10.30pm to the sound of the peddle powered sound system.

For more pictures from the day of action visit: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/406578.html