I have written before about Fracking and pointed people to the demolition of the lies and stunts, performed by Josh Fox in his Gasland movie, in the .documentary Fracknation. Some might say that it is unfair to use facts to demolish fantasy but as a grown-up….
Anyway, today, the UK shows the ignorance of the ‘debate’ on fracking.
By all reliable accounts, Britain is sitting on top of an energy source which is cleaner than most and could provide a much needed economic boost to areas which are not enjoying the growth seen in other parts of the country.
So here’s a challenge to Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. If you really are in favour of fracking and in tapping into this subterranean bounty that nature has provided, then do something about it.
That something has to be to recognise the national interest is best served by developing these resources. That means that planning approvals, for such developments, cannot be allowed to sit with local authorities but must sit with central government. Local politicians are ever fearful of NIMBYs and such narrow-minded pressure groups. Take the responsibility away from them.
That doesn’t mean giving it to the Department of Environment and Climate Change. In my view DECC should no longer exist. This is a department that, when led by former Labour leader, Ed Miliband, pushed through legislation that directly causes ‘fuel poverty’ in the UK and leads every year, to the deaths of thousands of people, who simply can’t afford the ‘Green Taxes’ imposed by energy companies.
Responsibility for planning applications, by energy exploration companies, should rest with the Treasury. They are responsible for securing Britain’s economic future, after all.
Wrapping up on fracking, the Treasury should also have responsibility for protecting those companies that are providing for Britain’s economic future. These drilling operations, once approved, cannot be disrupted by Green protestors who, in spite of all the real evidence pointing to the positive economic benefits of fracking and the overwhelmingly safe environment in which drilling and development operations are conducted, simply refuse to accept fracking. These Greens are people that would have us back, literally, in the Dark Ages !
Developing our natural resources for the benefit of the British people, must proceed.
As previously disclosed, I work in the energy industry.