Drilling for shale gas is a serious mistake

17 December 2012

 

THE Green Party has condemned Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey, for announcing the resumption of drilling for Shale Gas.

The decision will permit the process known as ‘fracking’, whereby water, sand and chemicals are pumped in rock at high pressures to release the gas within.

Green Party Energy Spokesperson, Councillor Andrew Cooper, said: “This shows the pointlessness of having a Lib Dem Minister heading up the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The lacklustre 'Green Deal' now has the addition of environmentally damaging 'fracking' for gas to add to the list of green policies gone bad.”

The government has categorically failed to justify fracking’s environmental impact, especially to water supplies. The economic case is also in tatters as even the government's Climate Change Committee has argued that relying on gas will potentially increase annual household bills by £600 in 2020 - compared to £100 through developing renewable energy.

 

Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: “Committing to gas means committing to input bills of uncertain, but almost certainly rising levels - costs that will be passed on to every household and business. Renewables, by contrast, have highly predictable costs. The sun, the wind, the tide, cost us nothing, and will entirely predictably continue to do so in future.”

Furthermore, the government’s claim to be ensuring Energy Security is a complete fallacy: it is an oxymoron to argue further fossil fuel exploitation will ensure supply, rather it produces insecurity through our reliance on finite resources.

 

 

 

 

 

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