Energy Company Cuadrilla could score a key victory for the government if it succeeds in starting fracking at its site at Little Plumpton, near Blackpool, next month. The company’s activities were halted seven years ago when its fracking caused earth tremors in the area.
Since then protestors have laid siege to the site, stopping trucks and equipment. But the government has championed the industry, claiming it as an answer to the country’s energy requirements, and in July it gave the company permission to resume operations. Now the company claims it is on the brink of commercial fracking.
The Scottish government has banned fracking, and Labour says it will do the same in government, citing not only risks to the environment and to people’s health, but the general point that burning more fossil fuel will only boost climate change; it should be left in the ground.
With the Tories’ support, however, the burgeoning fracking industry will get a major boost if Cuadrilla succeeds in starting operations. Protestors now need to organise as many people as possible to descend on the site and make sure this does not happen.
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