jhorn@thekmgroup.co.uk

A petition containing more than 1,600 signatures opposing plans for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth is being handed to MP Bob Marshall Andrews tomorrow, Friday.
Campaign group Kingsnorth Climate Action Medway (KCAM) will present the petition to the Medway MP, who will then hand it to Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary.
Pauline Walker, from KCAM, said: "This petition sends a clear message to Ed Miliband that there is powerful opposition in the Medway to dirty new coal at Kingsnorth.

"Increasing numbers of people in the local area are voicing their concern over such plans which, if approved, would massively undermine attempts to cut carbon emissions.

“It is great to see that increasing numbers of individuals and organisations are voicing their opposition to dirty coal. Earlier this month, over a thousand people from organisations as far reaching as the WI, the RSPB, and the World Development Movement, came to Kingsnorth to protest against a new coal fired power station.”

Mr Marshall Andrews said: “It is encouraging to see that local constituents are continuing to take action on this important issue. My main reservations about new coal at Kingsnorth are: environmental - CO2 emissions from the new coal fired plant is only marginally improved on the current one: political - as China builds a new fossil fuelled station a week the UK should lead by example: and economic. Crucial matters such as carbon capture and storage have simply not been resolved.”
The handover of the petition is taking place as the national Big If campaign is launched. Throughout the next few months, individuals and groups throughout the country are making pledges to tell Ed Miliband what action they will take if he gives the go ahead the new coal plant at Kingsnorth.