In the course of my lifetime, 656 men have met their deaths in UK coal-mining disasters. In 1966, a further 144 men, women and children lost their lives when a coal spoil heap collapsed on to a school in Aberfan, South Wales. That’s 800 people whose relatives and friends still mourn for them.

The general public at the time shared in this mourning and great sense of loss but, at the same time, accepted that mining was a dangerous and sometimes deadly occupation, and that it was being carried out for the benefit of the nation, for the common good.

It was understood that coal was needed for the railways, our homes, our food and our industry.

Coal was indeed king and life without it was unthinkable.

There are detailed accounts of these tragedies, covering the investigations and the conclusions reached.

However, I cannot find any reports of protesters demanding the end of the coal-mining industry, citing health and safety or proclaiming that it spoilt the environment.

In 2013, protesting is par for the course, as we have seen recently in our area.

But in the days, when coal was so vitally important, people instinctively knew there was such a thing as “the greater good”, and that the lives so tragically lost had not been wasted.

British coal is no longer king – not even a prince – and our country desperately needs alternative forms of power.

We cannot rely for ever on being able to import coal, gas and oil in the quantities that we need; times and circumstances change and the day may well come when our country finds its power requirements cease flowing in from abroad, for either economic or political reasons.

Every issue raised by today’s protesters over fracking may come about. Whatever the outcome, though, I believe we should recall the attitude taken in the past – that of “the greater good”.

Our country’s future can only be secured on the back of a guaranteed and affordable source of power which does not rely on imports or the strength of the wind or acres of land covered with solar panels or the risk of a nuclear meltdown.

Do we want to become a country that proves to be a disgrace to those who, through the sacrifices they made, ensured our nation had a source of power that proved to be its lifeline whatever the cost?

Do we really want to become a country that is, literally, powerless? Or do we face up to the challenge of providing a new source of power, whatever the difficulties?

Eric Waters, Ingleside Crescent, Lancing

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