Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court has overturned a June ruling that an environmental permit for the Turow lignite mine should be suspended, reported Reuters. The open-pit mine, which is owned by Poland’s state-run power company PGE, supplies 8% of the country’s energy.
“There is no doubt that energy security is … a constitutional value, because it is one of the guarantees of state independence and security of citizens,” the court said in its ruling.
Reuters said the ruling nationalists Law and Justice has portrayed attempts to close the mine as an assault on Poland’s sovereignty, depicting the opposition as elitists who take the side of foreign powers against Poland.
Environmental groups have long criticized the environmental impact of the operation, located in Bogatynia, near the Czech Republic border. Ana Meres, coordinator of the climate and energy campaign at Greenpeace, said the latest “judgment does not end the case of the Turow mine.”
Source: Reuters