Fracking may threaten UK climate targets and may not cut costs – MP report

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Reacting to a new report published on Friday, April 26, 2013 by the Energy and Climate Change Committee on the impact of shale gas on energy markets, Friends of the Earth Energy Campaigner Tony Bosworth said: “This report does little to back the case for a UK shale gas revolution.

“MPs say clearly that shale gas production may threaten our climate targets, may not stop the price of gas from soaring further and we can't rely on it to improve energy security.

“Fracking is dirty, unnecessary and a threat to our climate and environment – it's little wonder so many communities are in opposition.

“Instead of gambling with shale gas we should be building an affordable power system based on our abundant clean energy from the wind, waves and sun.”

Friends of the Earth's Clean British Energy campaign, backed by TV Dragons' Den's Deborah Meaden, is urging the Government to act now to fix our broken energy system by setting a target in the Energy Bill to clean up our electricity by 2030. Slashing energy waste and developing renewable power from our wind, sun and waves will tackle climate change, create thousands of UK jobs, and make our future fuel bills more predictable.

It is amazing that, despite the fact that even its own MPs come out against fracking, basically, the British Con-Dem coalition government continues to try to browbeat the public into accepting fracking.

The latest shenanigans of the government is trying to buy the support of the people in the areas of which fracking is to take place by promising them cheaper energy bills if they will just support fracking to take place.

It would appear that certain politicians have taken much by way of support from the companies that wish to do the fracking for shale gas (and oil) in the British countryside and cannot back down now and have the deal not go through.

In addition to wind, waves and sun for energy security there is, as is being used in many other countries that go the renewables route firmly, the gas that we can produce from waste and effluent, namely methane gas, which is the same, and please don't anyone connected to the fossil gas industry try to tell us differently, not after an industry spokesman so nicely slipped up on a radio broadcast and called natural gas nothing more than methane, is but natural gas and can be used in exactly the same way and is being used in exactly the same way already in many other countries.

The UK's politicians, however, in the same way as those in the USA, are deep in the pockets of the oil and gas industry and thus simply do not want to see any alternatives to the status quo.

UK and US politicians are not interested in the Planet and in tackling climate change. Their interest is solely their pocket and how much money they can reap from the lobbying firms. The brown envelope manufacturers also must be laughing all the way to the bank.

We need a new system, not a new government...

© 2013