We must have a Frack Free Future

By Laura Brook

Conservation Officer

On 2 November 2019, the UK government announced a moratorium on fracking. Today we have seen the Prime Minister lifting the ban on fracking in England, citing the energy crisis and war in Ukraine as justification for reopening the case for this controversial practice.

Accompanying the announcement, government published a new review by the British Geological Survey (BGS). Commissioned back in April, the review concludes that we still do not fully understand the impacts of fracking, and provides no confirmation that fracking is safe. This is critical because the Conservative government committed in its 2019 manifesto only to explore fracking if the science shows categorically that it can be done safely. That science is still lacking and there are serious questions about feasibility too. Even the founder of the fracking company Cuadrilla has recently dismissed the feasibility of fracking in the UK in the near future, stating that the UK’s geology is too challenging to exploit at any meaningful scale.

Sussex Wildlife Trust does not support fracking in the UK because of the potential for negative environmental impacts. Fracking will increase our dependence on fossil fuels; it uses and pollutes vast amounts of water; and it will not help to reduce household bills or tackle the energy crisis. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng stated earlier this year “it would take up to a decade to extract sufficient volumes [of shale gas] - and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside."

Fracking poses serious threats to wildlife and wild places, which are already under immense pressure. It is absurd that exploratory licenses for fracking have been granted in areas that border national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas, which are some of our most important sites for nature.

The Prime Minister’s bold and concerning decision to overturn the fracking ban flies in the face of the government’s legally binding climate targets, at a time when all effort should be made to tackle the energy crisis in a sustainable way for the environment and the people of this country and the wider world.

What we should be seeing from government is increased investment in renewables and energy efficiency measures to tackle the energy crisis and guarantee domestic energy production for the future. Reopening the case for fracking will not positively impact the UK’s energy supply, nor does it make economic or environmental sense.

The energy crisis has been looming over us for years, but is only now receiving political attention. We must not allow the undeniable links between this energy crisis and the nature and climate crises to be decoupled. How our decision makers choose to address the crisis we face now will have ramifications for decades to come. Allowing fracking is a dangerous move in the wrong direction.

To find out how The Wildlife Trust are suggesting the UK's energy security must be tackled alongside the nature and climate crises read our blog on vision for the energy crisis

1. We’re joining 60 organisations highlighting the importance of improving #energyefficiency to reduce bills, improve energy security and boost growth ahead of Friday’s fiscal event.
2. Improving #energyefficiency must be part of the Government’s long-term response to the #costofliving crisis. It will bring down bills in the long-term, improve energy security and boost growth.