Liz Truss LIFTS ban on fracking despite fears it can cause earthquakes

2022-09-08

Liz Truss LIFTS ban on fracking despite fears it can cause earthquakes saying it is vital to boost UK energy security – as firms mull offering 25% discounts on bills to get local residents to approve drilling near homes

The Prime Minister told MPs the moratorium in place since 2019 will be lifted
Told Commons it could lead to gas flowing out of the ground within six months
But it will only be allowed in areas of the UK where there is ‘local support’

Liz Truss set herself up for a new fight with environmental groups and green Tories today as she confirmed she is lifting Boris Johnson’s ban on fracking.

The Prime Minister told MPs the moratorium in place since 2019 will be lifted in areas where local communities support the technology.

Fracking firms are considering offering a 25 per cent discount on bills if local residents agree to allow fresh drilling near their homes.

However it remains to be seen how many people will welcome a process that has been linked to earth tremors.

The technology sees high-pressure water and gasses pumped into gas and oil-rich seams to break them open and extract the mineral wealth.

Ms Truss told the Commons: ‘We will end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale, which could get gas flowing as soon as six months, where there is local support for it.’

The Prime Minister told MPs the moratorium in place since 2019 will be lifted in areas where local communities support the technology.

Fracking firms are considering offering a 25 per cent discount on bills if local residents agree to allow fresh drilling near their homes.

Parliament’s All-Party Environment Group, chaired by Tory former minister Chris Skidmore – who baked Liz Truss in the Tory leadership campaign, has written to the PM urging her to recommit to reaching net zero by 2050, expand the use of renewable power and insulate more British homes to bring down bills permanently.

Labour has condemned the idea – and pointed out that many prospective sites are in marginal seats held by Tory MPs.

The technique has been widely used in the US, a country with wide open spaces.

But some senior Conservatives fear fracking is unsuited to a country as densely populated as the UK.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said: ‘The Prime Minister is right to recognise that immediate support needs to be combined with longer-term action. But I’m afraid fracking and a dash for gas in the North Sea will not cut bills. Nor will they strengthen our energy security.

‘But they will drive a coach and horses through our efforts to fight the looming climate crisis … but she should listen to her own Chancellor sitting next to her.

‘What did he have to say on fracking just a few months ago? Now this is a long quote and I have tried to cut it down, but every sentence is worth repeating. His words.

‘Those calling for its return misunderstand the situation we find ourselves in… if we lifted the fracking moratorium, it would take up to to decade to extract sufficient volumes – and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside.

‘Second, no amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon. And with the best will in the world, private companies are not going to sell the shale gas they produce to UK consumers below the market price. They are not charities.’

When he was business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng – now Chancellor – was sceptical about the speed and extent of the impact on gas prices.

In March, he wrote in The Mail on Sunday: ‘Even if we lifted the fracking moratorium tomorrow, it would take up to a decade to extract sufficient volumes – and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside.’

But Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke said today: ‘If we want energy sufficiency we have to look at every source, including clearly new nuclear, more renewables but we also want to look at technologies like fracking.’

And Francis Egan, the chief executive of fracking firm Cuadrilla, said: ‘I am very pleased that the new Government has acted quickly to lift the moratorium.

‘This is an entirely sensible decision and recognises that maximizing the UK’s domestic energy supply is vital if we are going to overcome the ongoing energy crisis and reduce the risk of it recurring in the future.

When he was business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng – now Chancellor – was sceptical about the speed and extent of the impact on gas prices.

The last few months have highlighted the risks associated with ever increasing reliance on expensive, uncertain, and higher emission gas imports. Without the strong measures set out today, the UK was set to import over two thirds of its gas by the end of the decade, exposing the British public and businesses to further risk of supply shortage and price hikes down the line.’

On Thursday and Friday Mr Skidmore will visit sites in the North West including a decarbonisation site in Liverpool, an energy efficient housing project in Salford and a peat restoration project in Oldham.

The former energy minister’s ‘net zero’ tour has been in the planning for months, with Mr Skidmore telling the PA news agency in May that he was intending to embark on a ‘Rolling Thunder’ tour to counter ‘populist’ opposition to net zero.

Ms Truss told MPs Mr Skidmore would lead a new review to make sure Net Zero could be achieved in a business-friendly way.

Source: Read Full Article