By J T Coombes
The Queens Speech on 4th June is the worst case scenario for the people of this country. Our Prime Minister has sided with big business, over the electorate, by allowing vast volumes of chemicals to be injected into the ground under our homes without our permission. With over 70% of people against this invasion, how could he simply change established trespass laws by driving a coach and horses through the democratic process?
In his desperate attempt to rectify the Treasury’s budgets, after submersing this country in unprecedented levels of debt we have not authorised, he has sold out to pressures from the big corporations and turned over two thirds of our country to exploration. And it has all been done without reference to the electorate, relegating them to obscurity in the negotiations about a hazardous and toxic industry that could turn this countryside into something resembling a lunar landscape.
The stories now coming out of America are truly frightening as law suits begin to be settled for compensation to abused residents. Abused from toxic gas leaks, toxic water leaks and air pollution from the fracking equipment. And that does not include the need to endure the army of heavy lorries needed to move millions of gallons of water on to each site and remove the oil and gas as well as the toxic waste generated by the process.
One retired senior executive within the industry has gone on record by stating that current technology is not capable of making fracking safe at present. This, coupled with inadequate regulations are the reason for the escalating cases of human misery that the industry and media are trying to suppress. Already in this country we have experienced problems in Lancashire, where small earthquakes were experienced and which the resident fracking company accepted were down to their operations.
To add insult to injury our government are accepting only limited responsibility from the fracking industry to clear up afterwards and deal with any leaks of adverse effects from their operations. It’s the banking scandal all over again, where lose regulation led to corporate abuse which taxpayers are having to pay an obscenely high price for . . . and will do so for some time to come!
We are talking about the risk of chemicals that still remain a secret, being pumped in to the ground, only to resurface at some time in the future and poison our crops and animals . . . our food supply in other words. And don’t let anyone tell you it won’t happen BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS.
Climate change and rising sea levels are shifting the very structure of our earth’s surface. The tectonic plates are moving and already causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and that is just for starters! What may appear encased in rock now may not be the case in the future . . . and do we want to gamble with our countryside on this one. You decide!
For my money introducing fracking into this country in the manner it has been done is the most irresponsible action by any government since parliament was introduce in 1296. If they really are this irresponsible then we have no option but to now take control before the whole matter gets out of hand. I am not arguing for the banning of Fracking, it could well prove a useful provider of some of our energy needs BUT we have to do it responsibly, and this government has proved conclusively that it is not interested in ‘responsible’ but rather gaining better polling figures by next year with a generous flow of income from a currently dubious source.
What I am advocating as responsible is a 5 year probationary period in which a total of 100 square miles of land, decided by business and with our approval, is designated for the sort of intense fracking procedures the government currently has in mind for the majority of the countryside.
During this time we would gain a valuable insight into what is entailed. What road infrastructures are needed, the effect upon our water supplies and what health risks manifest. It took less time than this in America for the reality of fracking to appear, but nothing is controlled over there and so compensation is the simple name of the game. We don’t have to follow like sheep but rather learn and take greater precautions. We are a small island that is incapable of surviving a mistake of this nature to two thirds of its countryside.
Fracking is not a national issue but international. We are currently in an unbalanced fight as electorates come up against the power of global conglomerates. It seems to me that the electorate must fight globally as well, by supporting voters in other countries with similar issues. It increases numbers on petitions, thereby worrying governments, and redresses the imbalance causing so much of the abuse today.
We have to make a stand now or corporate needs will become a dominant and permanent feature of a seriously weakened democratic process that is now leading to our own self destruction (the Planet will survive because it can fight back!).
If you would like to sign my petition demanding a more responsible approach to Fracking please follow this link https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fracking-limited-and-responsible-testing
www.globalmagnacarta.com @GMagnaCarta
