A must see imo.

I began watching and then discovered it is 1hr 45 so I'll need to come back to it, probably late tonight.
I will watch it though because it is a concern I am aware I know far too little about so thanks for this Jhado mate.

I have read up on fracking though I confess I've not got round to watching the OP vid yet.

As well as Cumbria, which is an area of natural beauty, there are plans afoot to commence fracking on a monstrous scale around Lancashire - places on my doorstep, like Chorley & St Annes.

Like Cumbria, St Annes is a nice area, with coastline, and expensive houses. There are lovely spots round Chorley also - Anglezark, Riivington, Charnock Richard etc.

"The BGS report estimates there may be 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas present across Lancashire and Yorkshire ‘Bowland Basin’, double previous estimates, and highlighted key areas where it was available close to the surface and in larger quantities further underground and both"...

...Mr Carter said: “This could mean between 50,000 and 100,000 fracking wells, a steady stream of trucks passing through communities, environmental risks such as water contamination and as yet unknown impacts on property prices..."

...Mr Fallon unveiled a package to encourage fracking development including streamlined planning guidelines, tax incentives to encourage exploration,up to £100,000 in ‘community benefits’ and one per cent of revenues from productive wells for local neighbourhoods.

...Lancashire County Council leader Jennifer Mein, said: “This report will add to the already considerable level of commercial interest in exploiting Lancashire's shale gas reserves.”

www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/chorl..._in_fracking_debate/

They're going to destroy these areas if they get their way. And there's money involved, so they're likely to get their way.

I tuned into Any questions on Friday. It was great. Ex chancellor Nigel Lawson was adamant that there are no dangers whatsoever from fracking. I am now utterly convinced. When a trustworthy chap like that tells you, "tiz all good bud", you know tiz all good.

So, to honour the legacy of Mr Lawson's now brown bread boss, I am buying shares in frackers.

Give me cheap gas! Now! Give me yield and dividend! Now!

I've been getting emails from Greenpeace due to signing a couple of petitions. Here's one I just received...

Hi Gillian,

Very soon, we could all be well and truly fracked.

As you read this, people in Sussex are blockading a proposed fracking site near the village of Balcombe, trying to stop drilling equipment from entering.

Balcombe is the fracking frontline and what’s happening there could soon be happening in your area. Email your local councillors and tell them you don’t want fracking near you.

Big energy companies are lining up to start fracking operations throughout the UK and there are a huge number of proposed sites. Already, 64% of England is under consideration for fracking so they could soon be coming to a field near you.

But you can stop the fracking before it starts. Local councils have to give planning permission before drilling can begin and are obliged to take your views into account. So tell your councillors that your area is off-limits to fracking.

Fracking - or hydraulic fracturing - is a destructive and dirty process using a mixture of water and chemicals to blast rocks and release trapped gas and oil. Not only have these chemicals been linked to water contamination, but burning more gas pumps more carbon pollution into the air which warms the planet further, melting the Arctic faster and destabilising our weather systems even more.

Perhaps the biggest scandal is that the government is bending over backwards to kickstart the fracking industry. George Osborne, the Conservative chancellor, has more than halved the amount of money that frackers have to pay in tax, even though it will do nothing to lower our energy bills. [1]

And Cuadrilla - the lead company trying to drill in Balcombe - has said a fracking "boom" would have an "insignificant effect" on gas prices. [2]

There’s still time to stop fracking in your neighbourhood.

Your local council can stop energy companies from drilling and fracking near you. Even if your area isn’t currently being considered for fracking, now is the time to take a stand and tell your local councillors that you don’t want fracking in your area.

We can do it,

Jamie
Greenpeace

[1] www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23368505

[2] www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-...y-bills-8656246.html

Here's the link if you want to lodge an objection with your local council. Which I hope everyone in this country does.

secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/speakout/s..._campaign=fracking01

Hey, I've got a reply - that was surprisingly quick, considering the last time I tried to communicate with them, I got no answer at all!

I've highlighted a sentence I find pertinent & disturbing.

Councillor Jonathan Saksena <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
12:15 (16 minutes ago)

to me
Dear Gillian,

There have so far been no applications for fracking within the Preston City Council area.

The Council's position is that should such a request come for any land within Council ownership, it will be refused. A Notice of Motion regarding this was passed by Council in December, with Labour and the Independents voting in favour of a ban and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voting for allowing fracking.

However, there are indications from Whitehall that the Government may be about to prevent any Local Authorities from banning fracking, even if they own the land.

Licences for fracking are not given by the City Council - this is the responsibility of Lancashire County Council, who are the Planning Authority for all industrial processes, including quarrying and mining. If you haven't done so already, I suggest getting in touch with your County Councillor, Kevin Ellard, about this matter as well, on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. LCC has far more power than we do in this.

As a result of the debate in Council last December, the Council's Environment Scrutiny Panel (which is chaired by Ribbleton Councillor Nick Pomfret) was charged with producing a report on the implications of fracking for Preston. This is still proceeding, but for your information, I am attaching the Minutes of all the evidence so far taken.

Please keep in touch if you require any further information.

Yours sincerely

CLLR JONATHAN SAKSENA
Ribbleton Ward

PS- If you have contacted Councillor Pomfret, he is on holiday and will not be back until early next week.


CLLR JONATHAN SAKSENA
Ribbleton Ward

That's terrible Gilly, I never knew you lived in Preston

Yeah, but I married a Geordie bastid though, so watch it, I've plenty of ammo against you bloody north easterners!

I'll shut up then.