Ban Fracking: These are the words that should be on the lips of every environmental activist, campaigner and politician in the UK because, if fracking gets a foothold, our commitment to a fossil fuel dependent economy will be sealed for decades. If that happens the UK can kiss all climate change targets goodbye. 

It is now crystal clear and generally accepted that developing an onshore unconventional oil and gas industry in the UK will result in unacceptable negative impacts on the environment, local communities and democracy, energy security, health and existing economies, especially at a time that the government should instead be urgently developing policies and infrastructure to provide a clean and sustainable carbon free vision for Britain that is so desperately needed. 

Over the past few years, the campaign against fracking has continually rebuffed industry claims and projections in every arena possible. It has systematically taken apart the government policy piece by piece, but the fracking lobby will never give up until we have secured a ban in the UK.

The latest ‘hard sell’ from the industry is in response to the growing awareness of the climate emergency. This new level of focus on climate change has given the frackers a headache as it is fast becoming obvious that society must keep fossil fuels in the ground. Their answer to this headache is to greenwash fossil fuels, with a narrative that fracking is needed to tackle climate change and to help the UK reach net zero, I kid you not! 

In the current climate emergency, fracked gas has no place as a bridging fuel in the country’s much-needed transition to a low-carbon economy and the industry is far from ever meeting the 3 tests set out by the Committee for Climate Change. These points must be raised at every level, especially now as the government’s own national planning policy on this issue has now been found to be unlawful. 

In May 2019, High Court judge Mr Justice Dove, issued a judgment which declared that a newly-added paragraph of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) relating to onshore oil and gas development, including fracking was in fact, UNLAWFUL. This key paragraph has now been quashed by the Judge and subsequently removed from the planning framework. 

Local authorities and policy makers now do NOT have to specifically ‘recognise the benefits of on-shore oil and gas development, including unconventional hydrocarbons for the security of energy supplies and to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.’ Crucially now, authorities do not have to facilitate the exploration and extraction of unconventional hydrocarbons as directed before. Furthermore, the ministerial statements relating to this issue are to be only advisory and can be deviated from if sufficiently justified. 

Therefore, any and all public bodies should listen to and consider all the evidence before creating policy and making plans. They can take a position against fracking in any plans, investments and policies and question the logic of backing fracking. 

This comes at a time where we see fast developing change to both the climate change agenda and all that feeds into it. The UK will need to invest heavily in the National Energy Infrastructure, the distribution network, energy storage, whilst at the same time reducing its gas use. It is evident that promoting fracking over cleaner, cheaper means of energy production is already causing harm to many affected communities up and down the country, as well as draining financial resources that would be better spent elsewhere. The UK will need to continue ensuring emissions keep falling to arrive at net zero, whatever direction that the current disjointed national policy takes us.  

The shale gas industry is not in any position to significantly contribute to the UK’s energy mix in either the near or medium term, simply because there is no actual industry to speak of. Its development, irrespective of how optimistic the industry projections are, just isn’t viable without aggressive lobbying, favourable policy and regulation changes. 

The record to date in the UK does not bode well. Aggressive actions include taking out an injunction against any protests and threatening to pass costs to individual local residents, sidestepping local decision makers, threatening legal action against landowners who refuse to allow access to their land - including against the National Trust. 

By stating their intention to frack in or under some of the most protected areas of England, such as the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, and position multi-well sites as close as possible around the perimeter of such areas is a clear indicator of the disregard and intention of the companies to frack wherever they want, even in the face of opposition from the National Park Authorities. 

The fracking companies have also been key in lobbying government ministers to relax environmental protections including around wastewater treatment i.e. reinjection into wells, disposal in rivers and seas to reduce costs and the earthquake regulations. These earthquake regulations were created in collaboration with the companies and have proved to be extremely effective in protecting communities from tremors, but the inability of the companies to control the frack safely is apparent and it is these regulations in particular that are now the subject of intense lobbying by the industry with the aim of deregulation of their own safe limits.   

Local communities up and down the UK will never be persuaded to welcome fracking in their area, despite repeated efforts to entice them with ‘shale gas dividends’ and promised pay-outs from speculative industry profits. Not a single community threatened by this industry has come out in favour of having fracking on their doorstep. On the contrary, wherever fracking is proposed, local people mobilise to do whatever they can to stop this industry in its tracks. Every planning application related to fracking results in hundreds, if not thousands of objections. 

Furthermore, the government’s attempts to fast-track fracking by subverting the democratic planning process through permitted development has created a huge backlash, alienating residents, communities, councils and MPs alike, including Conservatives. 

To many, it may seem to many that fracking has simply gone away, beaten back never to return and the industry has been repelled repeatedly to the credit of campaigners across the country. But we cannot be complacent, as fracking is still in the spotlight. 

In Lancashire Cuadrilla are back trying to frack a second well and in North Yorkshire Third Energy are applying to extend their licences by 17 years to 2035, with the intention to use ‘unconventional methods’ to extract the gas. The companies are fighting tooth and nail to get the most favourable conditions possible into minerals plans. INEOS - the plastics giant and the biggest fracking licence holder is still flexing its financial muscle in court rooms, public inquiries and across communities in an asserted effort to get fracking going. 

If we are to be serious about tackling climate change then it is imperative that every method at our disposal to halt fracking and ensure it does not gain a foothold in the UK. Climate Change needs to be tackled urgently and fracking is THE clear and present environmental danger right now in the UK. 

In this current political transition, the next few months will be key in wiping the slate clean of outdated policy choices. Any new prime minister can take the lead and inspire climate action. Their first action must be to take fracking of the agenda once and for all and use our standing in the world to influence a new environmental industrial revolution.

With over 30 constituencies impacted by fracking licenses, constituencies that could be decided by a swing of a just over a couple of thousand votes, it leaves me in no doubt that fracking will be a major influence in any forthcoming general election. 

We ask politicians to join those already on board and sign up to our Frack Free Pledge and we ask campaigners to help on the ground, especially at election time and join the thousands of supporters who have signed the Frack Free United declaration. 

We are ready… Are you?

Steve Mason is a Co-founder of Frack Free United, Director of Environmental Smart and a Ryedale District Councillor.