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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be angry fracking ban has been lifted despite Tory manifesto promise?

175 replies

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:25

I am so annoyed the ban on fracking has been lifted with no real discussion, even though the Tories promised in their manifesto they wouldn't allow it unless it was proven safe. No proof has been published.

Experts say it will not help us with our energy bills, just result in pollution and more profits for energy companies.

Biscuit for Liz Truss!

YABU: I'm fine with fracking, who needs clean water anyway?
YANBU: I'm annoyed the ban has been reversed

OP posts:
sst1234 · 13/09/2022 21:31

We’re you just as angry or annoyed at paying double, upto 4 times more for your energy? Do you have strong feelings about hundreds of billions on debt to pay energy bills because we are not energy self sufficient as a country? Are you just as concerned that the country’s economy well being depends so much on energy imports that actions of a foreign dictator would cause people to freeze to death.

Or are you just an online protestor who likes to signal their green virtues.

By the way, what discussion are you looking for? A phone call from Truss to ask for your permission?

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:34

Given this will not make my bills cheaper or contribute enough energy to change things for the better on the self-sufficiency front, because it will be sold globally, it seems another exploitation of our country by energy companies with no benefit to ordinary people.

It should have been discussed in parliament, not with me personally.

OP posts:
Fex · 13/09/2022 21:38

We should do everything possible to be self sufficient in this country on food, fuel and everything else so we are not plunged into crisis at the whim of the Russians, the French or anyone else.
If that means fracking so be it, and the failure to plan for future nuclear power was criminal.

nomoreflyingfucks · 13/09/2022 21:39

I thought fracking was meant to be an environmental disaster? Or has that been disproved? I thought as well as risks of toxins being released into the environment there was increased risk of earthquakes and sink holes? Happy to be corrected though as I'm probably out of date.

nomoreflyingfucks · 13/09/2022 21:40

Fex · 13/09/2022 21:38

We should do everything possible to be self sufficient in this country on food, fuel and everything else so we are not plunged into crisis at the whim of the Russians, the French or anyone else.
If that means fracking so be it, and the failure to plan for future nuclear power was criminal.

I agree we need to be energy self sufficient, but not convinced that nuclear power or fracking are the best way forward.

sst1234 · 13/09/2022 21:40

Ok let’s believe that not a single unit of energy will be derived from this. It will be exported. And?

Who needs exports. I mean we can just run the economy on debt or better still, let’s print money like it’s 2020. I mean it’s not like it leads to runaway inflation or anything.

theemmadilemma · 13/09/2022 21:41

Tories don't deliver on promise! SHOCKER!

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:41

nomoreflyingfucks · 13/09/2022 21:39

I thought fracking was meant to be an environmental disaster? Or has that been disproved? I thought as well as risks of toxins being released into the environment there was increased risk of earthquakes and sink holes? Happy to be corrected though as I'm probably out of date.

No there is no new evidence, they banned it because it was an environmental disaster, and said they would not go ahead unless they had evidence it was safe.

They have no evidence it is safe but have reversed it anyway.

OP posts:
sst1234 · 13/09/2022 21:42

nomoreflyingfucks · 13/09/2022 21:40

I agree we need to be energy self sufficient, but not convinced that nuclear power or fracking are the best way forward.

I guess there’s always plenty of hot air on threads like these that could be substituted for real energy like nuclear.

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:43

Fex · 13/09/2022 21:38

We should do everything possible to be self sufficient in this country on food, fuel and everything else so we are not plunged into crisis at the whim of the Russians, the French or anyone else.
If that means fracking so be it, and the failure to plan for future nuclear power was criminal.

It will not make us anymore self-sufficient according to the industry, as they will flog it on the open market. It won;t be 'ours'.

I would prefer less polluting options first, fracking is the absolute shittest dirtiest energy, it is the only thing worse than coal.

OP posts:
Discovereads · 13/09/2022 21:45

YANBU OP.
I’ve seen first hand the environmental devastation that fracking has caused in the US. The radioactive wastewater from it (and not all of it is retrievable) is so toxic it’s too dangerous for regular toxic waste sites. Trillions of litres are produced by just one well. You think sewage in our water is bad? You know nothing of the dead lakes, steams and wastelands in the US caused by fracking. And it’s not just the environment, the waste that’s not retrievable gets into our water supply too. Thousands of US residents can literally light their tap water on fire 🔥 due to the after effects of fracking.
www.propublica.org/article/scientific-study-links-flammable-drinking-water-to-fracking
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26608711/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26943595/

Discovereads · 13/09/2022 21:48

Fex · 13/09/2022 21:38

We should do everything possible to be self sufficient in this country on food, fuel and everything else so we are not plunged into crisis at the whim of the Russians, the French or anyone else.
If that means fracking so be it, and the failure to plan for future nuclear power was criminal.

Fracking isn’t a path to self-sufficiency its a path to suicide.

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:49

This video on twitter echoes what you say about water @Discovereads
twitter.com/BenGoldsmith/status/1569314085828689922

Not to minimise the situation in the States but we have so little space here, surely one fracking well could potentially contaminate a fair amount of our water table?

OP posts:
TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum · 13/09/2022 21:51

Yanbu OP. This is what Kwasi Kwarteng (now chancellor and all round Truss cheerleader) said in MARCH THIS YEAR:

"Those calling for [fracking’s] return misunderstand the situation we find ourselves in.

“If we lifted the fracking moratorium, it would take up to a decade to extract sufficient volumes - and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside.

“No amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon.

“And with the best will in the world, private companies are not going to sell the shale gas they produce to UK consumers below the market price. They are not charities, after all.”

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:53

a high cost for communities and our precious countryside and for no benefit to us either in terms of security or finances Angry

OP posts:
wincarwoo · 13/09/2022 21:54

For some reason they seem to have taken the loons on Twitter seriously and have changed tack.

Kendodd · 13/09/2022 21:56

Yes, former Shell employee Liz Truss lifts ban on fracking, plans to issue new oil and gas drilling licences, she hates solar farms as well, so no more of those on her watch.
Don't know her view on shit in the sea, but expect she's all for it.

Discovereads · 13/09/2022 22:05

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 21:49

This video on twitter echoes what you say about water @Discovereads
twitter.com/BenGoldsmith/status/1569314085828689922

Not to minimise the situation in the States but we have so little space here, surely one fracking well could potentially contaminate a fair amount of our water table?

That’s the terror of fracking here, we’re the size of two US States, they have polluted more land mass than we have and it’s ok, they can afford the loss as they have plenty of lands and dozens of river systems. They’re also much more sparsely populated so fewer people are exposed to the pollutants.

We don’t have that luxury. We pollute just the Thames basin, that’s 15 million people who could potentially be affected with high cancer rates, endocrine disrupters causing infertility and birth defects, radiation sickness, the works.

Desmorelda · 13/09/2022 22:09

www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/24/how-uk-energy-policies-have-left-britain-exposed-to-winter-gas-price-hikes
Tories have well and truly caused much of this crisis. Funny how Putin can be blamed for all manner of things 🤔but the blame is closer to home.

napody · 13/09/2022 22:17

Kendodd · 13/09/2022 21:56

Yes, former Shell employee Liz Truss lifts ban on fracking, plans to issue new oil and gas drilling licences, she hates solar farms as well, so no more of those on her watch.
Don't know her view on shit in the sea, but expect she's all for it.

Sums it up! YANBU OP. Not surprised but it's bloody awful.

Desmorelda · 13/09/2022 22:18

@sst1234 presumably you live nowhere near potential fracking sites ?
Let's see what happens when tory seats like Fylde see Cuadrilla sniffing around the former fracking site on Preston New Rd....will Mark Menzies mp back down or stand up for his constituents. Interesting times indeed.

carefullycourageous · 13/09/2022 22:19

I agree we have no going back once the damage is done given our tiny landmass, although at least Wales and Scotland have said no.

OP posts:
Valeriekat · 14/09/2022 01:07

Where does the radioactive water come from?

MarshaMelrose · 14/09/2022 01:52

I don't really see why my house should be.at risk of falling down so that someone else gets cheaper energy. When you're woken up by repeated earthquakes maybe you'd change your mind. Fracking is great when it affects someone else's safety.

Mark Menzies, the Fylde MP stood up in the HoC and at committees and at general meetings condemning frackinglast time. I don't see why this time would be different.

user1477391263 · 14/09/2022 01:57

We are staring down the barrel of a difficult winter. Long term, we need to double down on renewables, better storage, hydrogen and modern safe nuclear (small modular reactors), but all this will take time, and we need some extra energy now. Fracking should not be a long term thing, but I think this is the right decision (for once) from dizzy Lizzy.

I would rather see this than the combustion of filthy coal, or people trying to burn wood in poorly maintained fireplaces out of desperation.

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