There was speculation that Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State involved, was influenced by the forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, held that year in Glasgow, but he did not give a reason.

[8] Michael Gove, Jenrick's successor as Secretary of State, gave planning consent in December 2022,[9] but faced legal challenges which had not been resolved by the time of the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

However, shortly before the court hearing, the new Secretary of State expressed the view that the previous government's decision to approve Woodhouse Colliery was unlawful because emissions had not been taken into consideration.

[10] In June 2014, West Cumbria Mining announced its intention to invest £14.7 million in a venture to explore for premium quality coking coal underneath the sea off Whitehaven.

[14] The inferred resources suggest that the mine could produce over 3,000,000 tonnes (3,300,000 tons) of coking coal per year from across a 77-square-mile (200 km2) section underneath the Irish Sea.

[15] Backers of the scheme point out that Britain imports 6,000,000 tonnes (6,600,000 tons) of coal per year (from which coke is synthesised at large steel plants), of which none is sourced in Europe, with most being from Australia and the USA.

[18] The mine head would be located on the former Marchon chemical works site close to Haig Colliery and the suburb of Woodhouse just south of Whitehaven town centre in Cumbria.

UK Coastguard said they were notified that drilling operations from a jack-up barge had struck a gas pocket approximately one nautical mile from St Bees Head.

[26] Trains would number up to six per day including Saturdays, though the company acknowledge that the increase in traffic on the railway would require signalling improvements on the Cumbrian Coast Line.

[20] In March 2019, a meeting of Cumbria County Council's planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the project citing "the desperate need for jobs, particularly in deprived wards close to the proposed new mine".

[30] In exercise of his powers under Article 31 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, directed the Council, in a letter dated 28 September 2020, not to grant permission to the West Cumbria Mining (WCM) application without specific authorisation.

[33] In January 2021 the chair of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), Lord Deben, sent a letter to Jenrick rebuking him for allowing the planning permission to stand.

[38] Jenrick's successor Michael Gove, as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, approved the application in December 2022,[39] although the decision was subject to legal challenges.

[46] Prof Sir Robert Watson who has worked on atmospheric science issues including ozone depletion, global warming and paleoclimatology since the 1980s called the coal mine 'absolutely ridiculous'.

[47] Mohamed Adow, winner of the Climate Breakthrough Award and director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank stated: "It's a bizarre and shocking decision.