New energy plan does not loosen restrictions on coal mining

The government has approved a new state energy plan which - after some protests from the environmental lobby - does not allow for the loosening of restrictions on coal mining. The minister for the environment, Libor Amborzek, said the plan's emphasis on renewable energy and effective energy use showed the Czech Republic's energy policy was now moving in a more environmental direction. There had been fears that some communities would have been destroyed to make way for new mines.