Grimes Sells Coal - Who’s Paying?

After his supposed departure from the IEA, and a reduction in the number of broadcast punditry opportunities coming his way, terminally inept form filler Darren Grimes rocked up at a supposedly new venture called Reasoned UK. Except, as Private Eye magazine pointed out, it wasn’t a new venture. Now Dazza has penned a column for Conservative Home which appears to add a new string to his bow - coal salesman.

Admitting briefly that no coal had been used for grid electricity generation in the UK for more than two months now, and pausing only to stress that it was the hated BBC that had brought that news (nudge nudge, wink wink Beeb bashers), Grimes then told his readers “‘Why would you burn coal?’ the BBC presenter claimed, when ‘you can get electricity from these’ – and the shot changing to panoramic film of wind turbines”. Go on.

“However, a quick rewind to a list displayed in the previous interview at the National Grid reveals that wind actually powered a paltry 1.7 per cent of our grid, with almost 80 per cent coming from gas and nuclear power”. It is true that wind generation is, by its very nature, variable - but using a snapshot where it was well below average is deeply dishonest. That’s why Dazza hasn’t put a citation in there. But back to his sales pitch.

“The UK has gone two months without coal in the energy mix all, and both Labour and the Conservatives are jubilant. So why, Darren, you might ask, why are you about to argue that we still need it?” Do get on with it, I’ve got lunch to prepare. “Coal use in UK electricity generation will come to an end by 2024 - that’s set in law. This is achievable because of practical, lower emission alternatives that can be deployed at the necessary scale, such as gas and nuclear, and not the BBC’s hot air about wind”. Kick the rotten Beeb!

Matt Ridley - climate change denier and coal fan

They’ve not given you any punditry opportunities, have they, Daz? But carry on. “However, this doesn’t tell us the full story … While it is true that coal will soon no longer be part of our electricity generation, it still makes general, economic and environmental sense to obtain the coal needed for a range of crucial industrial needs by mining it here at home”.

Then he gets to the USP. “Surface mining is a much cleaner and safer operation to extract the coal that we still need. It’s a process that’s complete with restoration and regeneration projects, represents a boost for the local economy … That’s why I am incensed by moves that would see these high-skill, high-wage jobs in extracting that coal that we need here at home, exported elsewhere - especially when it’s to the likes of Russia”. Boo Russia!

Who benefits? “Banks Mining”. Who they? Miles King had a look: "Brexit fanboy and culture war cub scout Darren Grimes, now writes for the Coal Industry. Banks Group just happen to be very close to err Viscount Ridley … Banks Group have extracted millions of tonnes of Coal from Ridley's land”. Over to Ridley’s Twitter feed.

OH WHAT A GIVEAWAY

And look what he just Retweeted: Reasoned UK plugging Grimes’ ConHome article. So, Dazza, what suddenly made you a fanboy of mining coal in the UK? No pressure.

Darren Grimes may not be lobbying for coal. But you can see it from there.

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