Where there's smoke

The letters to the editor column of the Southland Times is one of the few venues Southlanders have for self-expression around issues that affect them. It still serves as a visible platform for local concerns and today it's choked with letters about lignite mining and I don't think Solid Energy will be pleased by the nature of those letters.
The leader, under the title 'Coalmining worries many Southlanders' is from Jeanette Fitzsimons, who visited us down here recently. Not many high-profile New Zealanders write unbidden to the Times, so her letter will cause a lot of interest to readers, I'm sure. In her letter, Jeanette lists a number of concerns that Southlanders she spoke to have about the proposals to mine lignite. She talks about the loss of quality Southland topsoil, the potential harm to our aquifers, the social impacts on the community, the enormous issue of greenhouse gases and the failure of carbon capture and storage procedures world-wide.
Jeanette closes with this sentence,
"Coal-to-liquid fuel plants are being cancelled all over the world, including China and Indonesia, on the grounds of cost and feasibility."

Doesn't seem worth the trouble.

Two other letters from Liz Springford from Wellington and Lynne Dempsey of Opotiki encourage Southlanders to think more deeply about mining proposals, especially with regard their grandchildren.
Jack Murrell of Manapouri makes a hash of defending himself against the three letter writers who took him to task over his pro-coal comments of last week.
It's becoming a hot topic, the mining of lignite!