Coal, fracking and nuclear: Imminent decisions on energy projects will set UK’s energy and climate course

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A decision on planning permission for the mine in Cumbria is expected imminently, and will come immediately after the government’s independent advisors on the climate – the climate change committee – said the new mine is "utterly indefensible". One of the main firms, Cuadrilla, which owns the Preston New Road site in Lancashire, where experimental fracking caused earthquakes, has put pressure on the government to lift the moratorium by offering payments for local communities which could be worth "hundreds of millions of pounds". open image in gallery The government has put nuclear power at the centre of its energy strategy With the huge amounts of greenhouse gases they will release, both the mine and the return of fracking depend on the government disregarding its own climate targets. As the government ponders these decisions it is worth noting that experts have called for none of these projects and instead say the government’s best means of exiting Russian fossil fuels, tackling the climate crisis and reducing the impact of the cost of living crisis is to speed up the rollout of air-source heat pumps, support more renewable energy developments, and boost investment on insulation.