It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world.

[blackburn_stevie]

Have you seen the reports on the news about the last 2 deep coal mines in the UK. They are being closed down because it is cheaper to buy coal from Columbia and other far away places and get the coal shipped over here. How can that be right?

Anybody that points a finger at the unions, take a biscuit.

[bankhaunter]

So we should pay more for our coal just to save some jobs?

It might be considered an idea if people practised what they preach but they don't.

[blackburn_stevie]

Bankhaunter said ..... So we should pay more for our coal just to save some jobs?

I didn't say that. I simply asked, "How come that the British coal is more expensive than digging coal up and transporting it thousands of miles on board a ship?"

[bankhaunter]

There is a massive difference in cost between deep mining in the UK and simply shovelling it up in Colombia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerrej%C3%B3n

[upthecreekyetagain]

When you have a shovel that can grab over 60 tons of coal at a time from the surface and dump it into one of over 300 trucks that can carry up to 5 shovel loads at a time, then it is hardly surprising the coal costs less than digging it out from a deep mine - even when it has to be transported across the Atlantic.

[queenelsa83]

I did see about this yesterday on the news, but still not too sure how I personally feel about it yet 😛

[lhasa.two]

We'll also need all the coal we can get from Columbia should the Russians decide to stop supplying us with coal as well as gas...

[grandad-macks-shed]

I know that Britain used to have the cheapest deep mined coal in the world but in the 80s a certain government decided that they could buy it cheaper from places like Poland and Australia even though those countries heavily subsidised their industries to maintain jobs. If my memory serves me right we could mine at arround £50 per tonne and it cost Australia arround £90 per tonne but they subsidised it by £50 per tonne. Once all our mines had closed then they stopped selling it to us at the discounted price. I was one of the 140,000 people who lost their jobs through it. Maybe Columbia are doing a similar thing and like was said previously, it is cheaper to dig opencast coal.

[electric*mayhem*band]

There used to be a saying for anything that was improbable. To wit: 'You'll see Margaret Thatcher strolling up Ashington High Street before that happens'.

Thankfully now even more far-fetched.

[cee-dee]

Just watch the video on this page (turn your sound up?):-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26987839

Then think of the outcry if something like that was proposed (never mind attempted) in this country. How on Earth can we compete with that?