A coal parable

All Tie Rod wanted was to get himself one of those Friends of Coal licence plates.

Unfortunately, as Larry Webster writes in the Lexington Herald Leader, he encountered an extremely staunch Catholic clerk who had taken the Papal Encyclical about climate change to heart.

The clerk flat out refused to issue the licence plates.

The courts became involved and Tie Rod managed to get his plate.

After a stint in jail the clerk emerged as something of a national hero among liberals and green types.

End of an era

In the blink of an eye decades of history and a major land mark – the twin towers of Cockenzie Power Station – had gone.

According to The Edinburgh Reporter the crowd gasped as the explosion boomed across the waterfront and the 150m Cockenzie chimney stacks that had dominated the East Lothian coast for the past 50 years were gone.

It also marked the end of the Age of Coal.

The paper reports that the sole remaining coal-fired power station in Scotland – Longannet – is due to close next year.

China shipping coal to North Korea

China has launched a bulk cargo and container terminal linking it with North Korea that will concentrate on importing coal and exporting groceries, the Economic Times reports.

The paper cites state news agency Xinhua saying the route will connect China’s Longkou port in eastern China’s Shandong with the North Korean port of Nampo.

Apparently the port will be serviced by seven ships.

The Economic Times writes that though China’s coal imports have slumped 32% in the first eight months of the year, deliveries from North Korea have surged 33% to 13.4 million tonnes. That makes it China’s third largest foreign supplier.