[nmc]

Why would they storm a mine where poor people work in hazardous and exhausting conditions? Do they not know that the company owning the mine is headquartered in Essen, where the top-level managers responsible for this actually work? (The company, RWE AG, has a 14 billion euros market cap and is not even mentionned in the article, good reporting BBC!)

[Robotbeat]

The conditions aren’t terrible. Also, hardly anyone actually works at these mines. They rely on massive machines that only need one or two people to operate them

[tannhaeuser]

Massive indeed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagger_288

[suswombat]

https://youtu.be/azEvfD4C6ow

I'm sry...

[EamonnMR]

Because the only way to stop climate change is to stop extraction of fossil fuels. Once they're out of the ground they're destined for the atmosphere. I envision state actors doing the same thing eventually.

[jseliger]

If only there were some power source that is reliable and technologically mature; one could use it as a substitute for coal. Alas that such a thing must remain in fantasy. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20254019

[DyslexicAtheist]

the point is that the decisions are being made somewhere else. RWE executives get to isolate themselves and continue to talk about bonuses and shareholder value, while themselves remaining entirely removed from the discussion. At the same time it is the poor people which have to be in the trenches and the effects will be felt by all (including plant and animal species we haven't even discovered yet).

Naming and shaming these crooks in public, and on social media is the future. If that doesn't gel then go after their families and children too. The stakes from damages due to climate and environmental crimes are simply too high.

[Robotbeat]

Pretty easy to erode shareholder value for mining companies if they’re unable to mine.