New coal plants 'could lose climate change momentum'

Campaigners in the US have expressed fears that the construction of new coal plants in the UK and the rest of Europe could result in poorer air quality and the momentum being lost in the battle against climate change.

Protests from environmental groups across the Atlantic have resulted in a shift in political will on the issue, the Guardian reports, with nearly half of the 150 planned coal plants in the country being abandoned or defeated in the courts and half the remainder still challenged.

Bruce Nilles, director of the national coal campaign for the Sierra Club, said: "Building new coal makes it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to meet [emissions] targets, so it's critical the European community countries do not fail."

He added that the rest of the world outside the US has previously been leading the way when it comes to tackling climate change.

In June 2008, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform claimed carbon capture and storage has the potential to contain up to 90 per cent of harmful carbon emissions from coal fired power stations.