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    Let's get fracking!

    Or not.

    This map, from the FT, is comedy gold.

    http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/0f05eac6-c090-11e2-8c63-00144feab7de.img

    The way it manages to miss Lib Dem Lewes and Eatbourne, plus Brighton Pavillion. Hilarious.

    I've changed my mind about fracking being bad.

    #2
    Let's get fracking!

    So, they are going to fuck up Tory constituencies, and leave others' alone?

    Isn't that a good thing? (I don't know enough about blowing up the world to know if it is worthwhile. Seriously.)

    Comment


      #3
      Let's get fracking!

      I don't know how it works exactly.

      The licences have been given by central government, because land belongs to the Crown. I don't know how much power the local councils have to stop it. Interesting case for Big Eric's localism.

      There are apparently far more licences due next months. It may be no coincidence that the Tories don't control the licencing- it's the Lib Dem run DECC who do. He's so far mostly missed the Kent Lab-Tory marginals. A few licences round there would put the tin hat on it.

      Comment


        #4
        Let's get fracking!

        Isn't Mr Fat Gorgeousness in an Essex seat? The map doesn't go far enough.

        Comment


          #5
          Let's get fracking!

          Tories endearing themselves to the North East latest :

          During Lords questions, he asked: "Would [the minister] accept that it could be a mistake to think of and discuss fracking in terms of the whole of the United Kingdom in one go? I mean there obviously are, in beautiful natural areas, worries about not just the drilling and the fracking, which I think are exaggerated, but about the trucks, and the delivery, and the roads, and the disturbance."

          The peer, who lives in southern England, said: "But there are large and uninhabited and desolate areas. Certainly in part of the north-east where there's plenty of room for fracking, well away from anybody's residence where we could conduct without any kind of threat to the rural environment."
          I love the idea that there are loads of areas in the North East which are both "well away from anybody's residence" and not rural. Presumably he means "well away from anybody in the House of Lords' residence."

          Comment


            #6
            Let's get fracking!

            That'll be Lord Howell, who works for Cuadrilla, the fracking company who have been offered huge tax breaks by Gideon Osborne. Gideon Osborne is the son-in-law of Lord Howell.

            Comment


              #7
              Let's get fracking!

              Fussbudget wrote:
              I love the idea that there are loads of areas in the North East which are both "well away from anybody's residence" and not rural. Presumably he means "well away from anybody in the House of Lords' residence."
              I would have assumed he was equating "rural" with "farms", no?

              Comment


                #8
                Let's get fracking!

                Perhaps, but that's the wrong word then, isn't it? Rural refers to the countryside, whether or not there's any farming.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Let's get fracking!

                  Interesting how little opposition fracking gets from the anti-wind crowd...certainly the usual nutters that pollute the hiking online world with their blogs full of climate change denialist crap and anti-wind nonsense don't seem to give a fuck about it, not even the threat of burying nuke waste in a pristine part of the Lakes bothered them...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Let's get fracking!

                    I think Peter Allen on Radio 5 is a climate change sceptic. They've just been discussing fracking. He let the Damascene convert from Balcombe who got the Cuadrilla tour and the geological scientist talk unimpeded and continually interrupted and strawmanned the anti campaigner. It's a theme I've noticed whenever he gets an environmental topic.

                    The green spokespeople don't help the cause, though, they are always a bit apocalyptic which always turns people off. They need to take lessons from the bad guys who always sound plausible and reasonable due to all the media training they get.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Let's get fracking!

                      Fracking's going to make the entire Fylde slide off into the Irish Sea, Blackpool and all. How can this possibly be a bad thing?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Let's get fracking!

                        Eggchaser wrote: I think Peter Allen on Radio 5 is a climate change sceptic
                        Or just professional grumpy old man? The producer feeds the questions so that's as likely to be the source of bias.

                        The green spokespeople don't help the cause, though, they are always a bit apocalyptic which always turns people off. They need to take lessons from the bad guys who always sound plausible and reasonable due to all the media training they get
                        General point taken. Although a two-hander also on the BBC earlier today suggests otherwise:

                        Tory MP for Morecambe Bay: I'm an acknowledged expert in Parliament, first to raise the issue etc. It's all quite safe, 10cm wide shafts and the salt water to flush everything gets recycled.

                        FotE spokeswoman: Actually it's all FRESH water from depleted aquifers, and there are thousands of those shafts planned for Lancashire alone.

                        ToryBoy: Er, splutter, gurgle...

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Let's get fracking!

                          Duncan Gardner wrote:
                          Or just professional grumpy old man? The producer feeds the questions so that's as likely to be the source of bias.
                          I used to work with Peter. He wouldn't care about what questions the producer gave him. He is a professional grumpy old man, nothing wrong with that, there's plenty to be grumpy about.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Let's get fracking!

                            Talking of fracking, is this not just insane. Are these gagging orders enforceable?

                            http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/05/children-ban-talking-about-fracking

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Let's get fracking!

                              They are definitely enforceable against the parents, who agreed to the terms as part of the settlement, but I have real doubts about the parents' ability to bind their children in this way.

                              And yes, it is insane.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Let's get fracking!

                                It's all going smoothly at Balcombe.



                                It's easy to write the residents off as nimby's but Private Eye reckoned a stroke was pulled with the planning permission.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Let's get fracking!

                                  Look. Let's be honest. If fracking causes the whole of the western side of the Fylde to slip into the Irish Sea, then

                                  - Readily available source of natural gas.

                                  - Blackpool slides into the Irish Sea.

                                  So. No actual downside!

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Let's get fracking!

                                    Alleged fracking 'disaster' in Colorado. Rumours of a media blackout, due to lack of coverage:

                                    http://www.texassharon.com/2013/09/15/is-there-a-media-blackout-on-the-fracking-flood-disaster-in-colorado/

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Let's get fracking!

                                      A little bit of background, from less than a couple of months back:

                                      http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/07/25/a-tale-of-two-cities-oil-drilling-and-fracking-in-northern-colorado/

                                      Could get interesting!

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Let's get fracking!

                                        My great and glorious leader (Vivienne Westwood) turned up at David Cameron's house in a tank.

                                        Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/11/-dame-vivienne-westwood-drives-tank-to-david-camerons-house-in-fracking-protest_n_8122594.html

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Let's get fracking!

                                          Moonlight shadow wrote: Interesting how little opposition fracking gets from the anti-wind crowd...certainly the usual nutters that pollute the hiking online world with their blogs full of climate change denialist crap and anti-wind nonsense don't seem to give a fuck about it, not even the threat of burying nuke waste in a pristine part of the Lakes bothered them...
                                          That plan is mental, license to frack on the outskirts of London? It seems like the UK has been importing the worst American policies across the board. Vivienne should have showed up above Cameron's house in a Lancaster instead. Seriously, you really don't want to permanently damage your water tables.

                                          Josh Fox' Gasland has done a very good job documenting the perils of fracking, it's really helped galvanize opposition to this practice. the second link is Gasland 2, a recent follow-up:

                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cutGpoD3inc

                                          https://vimeo.com/97358756

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Let's get fracking!

                                            "Balanced" coverage of the fracking debate on the anodyne Countryfile tonight - air time for, and only for:

                                            [ol]
                                            [li]A local businessman from Lancashire worried about his profits and wanting a compensation scheme[/li]
                                            [li]The CEO of iGas, all reassuring sound bites and corporate devilry[/li]
                                            [li]A woman from Lancashire council complaining about the amount of paperwork involved in the planning process[/li]
                                            [li]A government spokesman explaining that safety and environmental concerns are not the business of local councils, their job is simply to wave the things through in not more than 16 weeks or face the consequences[/li]
                                            [/ol]

                                            The item's conclusion? The government and energy companies want to frack so they probably will.

                                            For a show that pretends to be concerned with environmental issues, the brief mention-in-passing of earth tremors and pollution clearly required extreme gritting of teeth.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Let's get fracking!

                                              Not that I've extensively read the literature on hydraulic fracturing, but it's clear that the objections aren't really based on a careful weighing-up of the pros and cons. I'm reminded of the anti-GMO lobby (which relies on even less science).

                                              Although groundwater contamination is possible and has happened, it's far from a given. And while I'm not in favour of putting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, you have to weigh it against the relative risks of coal and nuclear power stations.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Let's get fracking!

                                                I'm reminded of the anti-GMO lobby (which relies on even less science).
                                                The SNP are "making a stand" on GMO.

                                                http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/09/scotland-to-issue-formal-ban-on-genetically-modified-crops

                                                It's an odd argument- they're saying Scotland's "premium produce" doesn't want its brand contaminated by association with GMO. They're not the only country with upmarket produce. Are they seriously suggesting other countries won't successfully differentiate between them and GMO?

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Let's get fracking!

                                                  Dunno. Whisky makes up a large proportion of Scotland's food and drink exports; is there much marketing value in GMO-free whisky?

                                                  Comment

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