Fracking is back

Oh yes, a great week for hiding unwelcome news..

Zak Goldsmith the Environment Minister has been sacked.

Every protection we have as employees, or animal welfare or environmental welfare is being trashed.

It is called free market economics.

Not in Scotland .we have 2 fault lines across the country and the FM ,while not able to ban it has placed a moritorium on it while it is studied more .Of course when we get full control of Scotland it wont ever happen here .The areas the British government want to frack and are offering licenses for are either in beauty spots or or too close to the fault lines for comfort .With nuclear weapons stored here in massive quantities fracking could just see the end of us .
WE dont have need for it we are already producing enough power for the whole of Scotland and enough to send down south and abroad .

Fracking has been going on in this country regularly since the 1980s. It has been used on the Wytch Farm onshore oil field near Bournemouth for decades and extensively offshore in the North Sea. There is no evidence that it has caused environmental harm of any kind in these areas. Most people, even in the Bournemouth area are unaware of the Wytch Farm oilfield or the fracking that has taken place. The same applies in the North Sea.

Fracking is like so many technologies, correctly used in appropriate circumstances it is entirely safe. Misused it can cause environmental damage and its suitability for exploiting shale gas reserves has been questioned. In which case it should not be used.

How many people have been killed and imjured by badly installed electrical wiring? Is the solution to stop people using electricity for any purpose.

Honestly, I do not have an extensive knowledge of fracking.

I do know that the invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the necessity for the U.K. to be energy self sufficient.

M0nica, you and I often disagree about energy policy, and that's a good basis for discussion.

Fracking will be a bl**dy disaster and anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't really understand the issue.

When citing Wytch Farm and saying that there has been no problems there? Well there were no problems in Chernobyl until it exploded. I'm not suggesting Wytch Farm will explode but just saying "its been fine so far" and crossing our fingers won't hack it any more. Also, fracking produces carbon based fuels which will contribute to climate change, which is already impacting the world and will only get worse.

Is the solution to stop people using electricity for any purpose.

No, it's to use renewables. Obviously.

Agree with you Volver for once surely there needs to be a vote on it at least.

Fracking is a disaster for the environment.

It uses oceans of perfectly good water turning into something totally unusable because so many chemical are added to it. That water is then left to mix with the ground water and thus to be cleaned up by the water company.

Given the drought that we are experiencing and the subsequent damage to wildlife in our rivers and streams, it is a ridiculous policy. Fracking mines take a good deal of time to set up, and the fact that climate change is an existential crises, this makes zero sense.

Meet free marketeers!

I believe that this was not in their manifesto.

Truss has no mandate

Test fracking caused earthquakes here.

The earthquake aspect has never been fully explained or researched I think.

Perhaps it is a necessary evil until we have enough sustainable power at affordable prices. I see the Swanage Bay scheme is now back on the cards. A similar one could be done in Bridgwater Bay and then there’s the Severn Barage that could be harnessed.

You may find this article from FoE interesting Whitewavemark2. We could feel the effects here, perhaps those who think it’s harmless would feel differently if it shook their home.

friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-change/fracking-lancashire

No. Never.

Renewables. Faster to develop, less expensive, not as dangerous to the environment.

But of course, don't make as much money for Truss's former employers and their cohorts.

Barmeyoldbat

Agree with you Volver for once surely there needs to be a vote on it at least.

It was mentioned in the Rory Stewart podcast that stopping fracking was in the Tory manifesto and that there should be an election so people can vote on whether to bring it back. He said every time fracking took place in the NW it resulted in earth tremors. Can we actually rely on this government to do it safely? Or will they just give contracts to their mates regardless of their expertise?

Fracking back? Good. The NW needs work. If I still lived there I'd say the same.

The earth tremors that were detected were much smaller than what counts as in the least bit dangerous to humans. Politicians are too influenced by lobbyists who think the planet is a naturally balanced and nurturing place. It isn't (more like deficient and dangerous without human intervention – go and look at gravestones from earlier centuries if you need confirmation of that) and we need the energy.

With more energy we can work to counter climate impacts and work towards a properly energised and human-friendly state of being without damage to the planet. Human impact on the planet is mostly good except where there is energy poverty.

Human impact on the planet is mostly good? So why are so many animals becoming extinct?

I do live in the NW Baggs and we don’t want fracking back! What a dismissive patronising comment. Are we supposed to put up with the further destruction of our environment to make money for big business yet again? Well we’re poor, so we’ll have to accept it?

baggs that is wrong on every level

Government seem determined to do more and more unnecessary damage. Why do they choose to ignore wave technology? I am definitely against any form of fracking.

volver

*M0nica*, you and I often disagree about energy policy, and that's a good basis for discussion.

Fracking will be a bl**dy disaster and anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't really understand the issue.

When citing Wytch Farm and saying that there has been no problems there? Well there were no problems in Chernobyl until it exploded. I'm not suggesting Wytch Farm will explode but just saying "its been fine so far" and crossing our fingers won't hack it any more. Also, fracking produces carbon based fuels which will contribute to climate change, which is already impacting the world and will only get worse.

Is the solution to stop people using electricity for any purpose.

No, it's to use renewables. Obviously.

I agree. As for Wytch Farm, this government has learned nothing about preparing for the worst while working for the best.

The conservatives have done so much to wreck our country one wonders what sort of morality they have.

The irony is that most of our energy could be home produced. now, North Sea Oil and Gas, Renewable, Nuclear and some Coal, although we do import some, indeed we also export oil and gas

The problem is that it’s mostly privatized and able to charge what it wants

No one tried harder to convert and support sun and /or wind energy than Germany.
Their emissions went up because they were forced to supply energy from coal.
Then they were forced to lie about its use.
The experiment has reached its conclusion.
The change from wood to coal saved and improved lives.
The same from coal to oil and gas.
Even more so the leap to nuclear.

But to some ideological perspectives are hard to give up.

I agree with M0nica

I've said it before, but try reading Bjorn Longberg.
Ebay has plenty of cheap books. Or order it from the library.
Some of us are operating on old outdated ideas.
But maybe that suits their mandate?