Very soon, we could all be well and truly fracked.
As you read this, people in Sussex are blockading a proposed fracking site near the village of Balcombe, trying to stop drilling equipment from entering. Balcombe is the fracking frontline and what’s happening there could soon be happening in Llanelli. Email your local councillors and tell them you don’t want fracking near you.
Big energy companies are lining up to start fracking operations throughout the UK and there are a huge number of proposed sites. Already, 64% of England is under consideration for fracking as are large portions of Wales including Carmarthenshire they could soon be coming to a field near you.
But you can stop the fracking before it starts. Local councils have to give planning permission before drilling can begin and are obliged to take your views into account. So tell your councillors that your area is off-limits to fracking.
Fracking – or hydraulic fracturing – is a destructive and dirty process using a mixture of water and chemicals to blast rocks and release trapped gas and oil. Not only have these chemicals been linked to water contamination, but burning more gas pumps more carbon pollution into the air which warms the planet further, melting the Arctic faster and destabilising our weather systems even more.
Perhaps the biggest scandal is that the government is bending over backwards to kickstart the fracking industry. George Osborne, the Conservative chancellor, has more than halved the amount of money that frackers have to pay in tax, even though it will do nothing to lower our energy bills. [1]
And Cuadrilla – the lead company trying to drill in Balcombe – has said a fracking “boom” would have an “insignificant effect” on gas prices. [2]
There’s still time to stop fracking in your neighbourhood.
Your local council can stop energy companies from drilling and fracking near you. Even if your area isn’t currently being considered for fracking, now is the time to take a stand and tell your local councillors that you don’t want fracking in your area.
Many Thanks to Green Peace for the Anti Fracking Campaign.
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