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

[carefullycourageous]

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.

for Liz Truss!

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

Yes this is infuriating, but of course Shell and BP don't make profits from solar

Water shortages in half the country so they're planning on using (and contaminating) trillions of litres to set up fracking again? Yes, that's sensible.

Where's the legislation ensuring every new building has renewables features, every new home has solar panels and is properly insulated?

Fracking is mostly responsible for the huge reduction in carbon emissions in the USA as fracked gas has replaced coal.

And lol at the people decrying contamination of water resources by fracking (which can happen if not properly managed, yes) but don’t seem to care about the same when it comes to solar panels: www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/05/23/if-solar-panels-are-so-clean-why-do-they-produce-so-much-toxic-waste/?sh=56dc1215121c

Industrial activity does have risks, but we need fossil fuels to maintain our current standards of living.

Personally I would rather use natural gas than coal. But you’ll dig coal up in desperation too if it comes down to it, because you wouldn’t want to go back to the days when elderly and young children routinely died during bad winters. Even inhaling smog isn’t as bad as that ….

I do wonder if we get rolling black outs how people will feel. Mind you with the price of energy I reckon usage will fall this winter hopefully avoiding this

Rolling black outs mean they should have acted 12 years ago with more renewables and storage and home insulation.

Fracking won't solve this winters problem or the next

But it will cause more floods and deaths from heatwaves - how will those people feel to know that others supported policies that led to their lives being ruined ?

I am woth you OP. This is a horrible turn around. Its purely about profit for big companies.

We can get nuclear, wind, solar and insulation going in a whole decade. Why spend a decade to start doing the worst possible thing for the environment.

I can’t help feeling that those people that approve of fracking don’t actually live anywhere near the proposed site?
I agree on the surface it seems like the perfect option but I can assure you that when you start looking into it the benefits really do not outweigh the risks.

and those people who think the government will attach rules to it are being ridiculous. Even if they did at the start to get things passed there would be a rule change at some (profitable) point. There’s already excuses being made now - we’ll they’ve had to change their manifesto because look at the state of everything. You do realise that they knew what was coming way before we did?

fracking really is not the answer and I beg people to look into it properly and have a more informed decision. Or maybe think, would I be happy to have this near my house? And make your decision that way,

How will fracking make any difference to this?

If you cared about rolling black outs you would be calling for insulation, renewables and energy saving research.

Unfortunately due to the UK being so small it is actually going to be near a very large number of houses. Once the water table is polluted we are not goingt o be able to walk that back.

With a nuclear power plant you have issues if it goes wrong but with fracking you have issues if it goes right.

I can’t help feeling that those people that approve of fracking don’t actually live anywhere near the proposed site?

I have lived near a fracking site (literally could see some of the infrastructure from the window) It was totally fine and our well water was never affected. We tested it every so often.

I have also lived in a place with heavy coal usage and it’s not great in the winter when the wind stops blowing so much preferred the switch to natural gas.

If you cared about rolling black outs you would be calling for insulation, renewables and energy saving research

Ummm, renewables will lead to rolling blackouts if you do not have a natural gas peaker plants to take over when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

Fracking won;t help this issue at all, that gas is a) not coming for minimum ten years (absolute minimum) and b) is a drop in the ocean compared to what we could achieve with renewables + efficiency

Fracking won't prevent any blackouts you think are coming. Reduced consumption would.

You don't need gas you need storage

Such as could he built in a Blyth in the nort east which is waiting waiting waiting for the promised government funds

Yes getting rid of the gas storage is something the Tories really don't want to mention!

Or maybe think, would I be happy to have this near my house? And make your decision that way,

This is how I look at it. No fracking near me, but I can’t justify expecting other people to suffer its consequences. Any benefit fracking would bring would require some to pay too high a price. The fact it won’t bring benefits to us just makes the whole thing utterly disgraceful.

I actually feel fracking is worse than offshore drilling as it brings not only the long term environmental impact, but also immediate, palpable degradation to homes and quality of life. If we can’t say no to this - surely low hanging fruit when it comes to energy and the environment - it feels like there is no hope for any of the rest of it.

I don't know why you're surprised the Tories have gone back on a manifesto pledge!

Fracking won't benefit any of us in terms of cost. Far better to put money into renewable energy which has a much lower impact on the environment.

For those who are concerned with us being self-sufficient - the Tories sold off our gas storage facilities, so anything we produce has to be sold when we have a surplus... And bought back at a higher price when we need it again.

I remember a few years ago listening to the radio about fracking, what really struck me was that if you live in an area where fracking happens and it causes seismic activity and that in turn damages your property, the company that causes that seismic activity does not have to pay for any of the damage caused.
I would imagine that insurance companies will also be quick to withdraw cover for seismic related damgage from their policies, in areas where fracking occurs, in much the same way as they have done in flood effected areas.

Not gas storage !!!

Electricity storage in giant batteries

The tech is there or thereabouts

If they really wanted to be a country that uses and profits from new tech ( which is associated with economic growth ) they would be supporting this not legacy

Well, you’re right that we need a steady state means of producing electricity but it doesn’t have to be by burning natural gas, it can be done by nuclear plants or burning bio-mass both of which can be done cleanly and efficiently. (Burning biomass is carbon neutral btw).

So many solutions that don't rely on fracking , that are better for the environment and so the population

Guess Tory mates benefit from fracking

Well, you’re right that we need a steady state means of producing electricity but it doesn’t have to be by burning natural gas, it can be done by nuclear plants or burning bio-mass both of which can be done cleanly and efficiently. (Burning biomass is carbon neutral btw)

agreed on nuclear but biomass isn’t that great Where is the wood sourced from? Europe already has very little forest cover. Maybe burning trash is ok though, nothing much else to do with it, but air pollution concerns probably worse than burning natural gas at that point

It’s nearly the fifth of November, how about parliament is the first site to be fracked?

Exactly

Biomass typically isn’t virgin wood. It’s municipal waste like what’s in our green bins, used vegetable oils from chippys/restaurants, road hedge and verge clippings, all the used dead Christmas trees collected by the council (nice winter boost), and so on. It’s also agricultural residue- the chaff for example. Also forestry residue- the sawdust pellets left over from timber processing. It’s Eden dried algae and seaweed collected off of beaches.