Liz Truss is the new prime minister and will likely reverse the ban against fracking when she presents her energy strategy in Parliament later today. In 2019, a moratorium on fracking had been imposed.
During her campaign for the Conservative leadership Truss spoke in favour of fracking stating, “We need to make sure that we are fracking in parts of the country where there is local support for it”.
Speaking to journalists at Westminster yesterday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said that the government would continue to follow its manifesto commitments on fracking. The 2019 conservative manifesto laid out a ban on fracking, but contains the caveat, ‘unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely’.
The Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy currently holds a British Geological Survey report on the effects of fracking, including the possibility of earthquakes. The report should now be published by environmentalists.
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Fracking companies had to stop operations for 18 hours before a traffic light system was introduced. This system required that fracking companies shut down their operations for a seismic event of 0.5ML (local magnitude) or greater. The system was introduced after tremors damaged the steel well casing at fracking company Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall site in Lancashire.
Politically, the change in policy regarding fracking is likely controversial.
The Labour MP, Jess Phillips has already taken to Twitter to jibe, “I suggest that Liz Truss takes the first one for the team and has 40 odd fracking sites in her constituency. Lead the way Liz”.
Meanwhile, the Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, who was herself once arrested at anti-fracking protest in Balcombe described the impending change in policy as, “ A massive kick in the teeth for the vast majority of communities who don’t’ want fracking, a disaster for climate policy, and a measure that will make absolutely zero difference to the cost of energy bills”.
Fracking, which involves extracting oil and gas from shale rocks, is supported by many. This has led to lower gas prices and increased production in the United States. Championing the policy in the UK, the former Brexit minister, Lord Frost, has suggested it offers the UK a “competitive and reliable source of energy”.
