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Government gives fracking green-light to “dead-on-feet” industry

news release

Ministers backing the wrong horse, says Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth and local residents vow to continue fighting fracking as Minister Claire Perry today (July 24, 2018 ) granted consent for the controversial process in Lancashire. The go-ahead was given while a legal challenge about regulation at the site brought by Friends of the Earth is still being considered by the High Court.

This news comes shortly after the government announced plans to make it easier for fracking companies to drill for gas. New proposals could mean that fracking companies can drill without applying for planning permission, or proper local consultation – putting thousands of miles of England’s countryside at risk.

England is the only part of the UK where the process has been allowed to take place, as authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have put a stop to it because of the risks.

Liz Hutchins, Friends of the Earth director of campaigns, said:

“It’s taken the industry seven long years to just get to this point.

“In those same seven years, renewable energy has gone from providing a tenth of our electricity to supplying a third of it. There is no need to force fracking on this community in Lancashire when the alternatives are so clear.

“The government backed the wrong horse. Renewables have cleared the finishing line and have taken the cup while fracking is limping along on the first stretch.

“They have also had to really push the boundaries of planning law by trying to change regulations to go all out for fracking, and they’ve put everything into resuscitating this nearly dead-on-its-feet industry.”

Across the country, people are calling on the government to respect local democracy and ban fracking for the sake of our climate and our environment.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. Conditions and announcement 

 

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