Fracking in Bassetlaw

by Leon Duveen on 13 January, 2014

Press Releaseanti-fracking poster

Fracking in Bassetlaw

Today’s visit to Bassetlaw by David Cameron[i] was an excuse for the Prime Minister to announce the latest attempt to force local councils into accepting the extraction of gas from shale by hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.

Bassetlaw & Sherwood Liberal Democrats oppose any fracking in our area.  This opposition is on two ground:

1)   Fracking technology has not yet been shown to be safe and by pushing down this path, the Conservatives in Government are riding roughshod over the safety and wishes of local people.  It has been associated with many environmental problems and has been linked to pollution in local water sources.

2)   Further investment in fracking does not help make the UK become energy independent.  We are blessed in this country with abundant natural energy resources that, if the investment now being put into fracking and other hydrocarbon sources was target at these resources, could be made more efficient & cheaper.

Fracking is at best a short term stop gap solution at the cost of local pollution and environmental damage.  We accept that the District Council has it hands tied by the planning rules and that even if it rejects any associated planning application, this is likely to be overturned by the Secretary of State for Communities (Eric Pickles), also the extra money from the inducement that Cameron has offered for allowing fracking in the District area will plug some holes in the Councils budget.  However this should not stop local people organising to make clear their opposition to any fracking in Bassetlaw & the surrounding area.

 


   2 Comments

2 Responses

  1. Robert Ilett says:

    Dear Leon,
    I was considering returning to the fold when voting in the County Council elections but I afraid that I find your policy on fracking short-sighted and not in the national interest so I will not be able to do so. I will go into further details should you so wish.

    Regards,

    Robert ilett

    • Leon Duveen says:

      Robert,
      I am sure you won’t be surprised that I disagree with you on Fracking.
      Leaving aside the potential for pollution and damage done by the Fracking process itself, the amount of oil & gas that can be extracted by fracking means that it can only be a short term stop gap and within a few decades we will be looking round for alternatives anyway. The economic case for Fracking is also at best weak and relies on hidden subsidies from the Government and an increasing oil price to make it financially worth while.
      The future for energy is undoubtedly in harnessing sustainable, green energy sources like wind (onshore & offshore), solar and tidal alongside the more established hydroelectric generation. In 2015 , Danemark had days when it was producing well over 100% of it’s energy supply from wind (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/10/denmark-wind-windfarm-power-exceed-electricity-demand) and in 2016, Germany produced 34% of all energy consumed from renewable sources (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Germany). We here in the UK can do much better than the 22.3% that was produced in 2015 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_United_Kingdom).
      If the UK invested the same amount of money into improving the efficiency of the renewable energy and of energy storage that it is pouring into support for Fracking, it is not fanciable to think that within the same timescale envisaged for the energy from Fracking (which will never be enough to replace the imports of gas & oil from Russia & the Middle East), the UK could be self sufficient in energy for homes & industry.
      I hope you will think again about voting Lib Dem in May, Fracking is not our only policy. We want to improve the lives of everyone here in Nottinghamshire and start to build an Open, Tolerant & United Nottinghamshire.

      All the best,

      Leon

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