Good to read your differing views on this subject, friends, but I am still not sure. However, I am sure that massive public relations pressure will soon be unleashed on the British public, egged on by grasping politicians desperate to tap into any new source of the energy we all so urgently need, due to the complete lack of strategic power planning by previous governments. Shame on the lot of them!
I gather that the frackers, who will no doubt be huge anonymous corporations based on Mars, intend to frack under heavily populated areas after they have slipped a few coppers into local and national begging bowls, as it were. If it all works, fine, but I remain to be assured that the technique is safe.
After all, much water, chemicals and power will have to be put in, and the oil, gas and residues coming out will have to to be processed and disposed off, with all the associated industrial mess, upheaval and noise. This will inevitably result in a spider's web of new pipes, power lines, chemical and storage facilities and dumps, etc., etc., all conducted in the midst of, under and over, our urban situations. I've seen pictures of some appalling US fracking sites, mainly in remote country areas. Bear in mind that our American friends are not known for their environmental care in their own country, so why should they be concerned about ours?
But there will be loadsa jobs and profits, no doubt, but at what cost? I do hope it does not all end in disaster. Before this starts we need the reassurance of a good, sensible, independent enquiry. Bet we don't get it!