Despite the frantic ‘dash for gas’ by the current Conservative (sorry, coalition) Westminster government, even the solidly-Tory Telegraph has misgivings about fracking in the UK.  As Liam Halligan writes:

Once subsidies are removed, shale oil and gas is far from cheap, not least because it requires the continuous drilling of small wells, rather than the long exploitation of big wells. So constant – and costly – drilling is needed just to maintain shale output, let alone increase it. US shale energy looks cheap, because domestic prices are cheap. But that’s down to unsustainable tax breaks and laws that stop American energy exports.

Some object to shale energy on environmental grounds. While I’m no geologist, reports of “earthquakes” in Lancashire during recent “pilot fracks” make worrying reading. It also appears that US shale production has, at the very least, had an indirect impact on water supplies, as underground aquifers have been damaged.

Given the West’s desperation for something – anything – to rescue us from our economic malaise, even the most determined environmentalists won’t stop the shale juggernaut until evidence emerges of very serious damage indeed to human health and welfare.

Maybe such evidence will emerge, maybe it won’t. I just don’t know.

What I do know, though, is that the production implications of the shale revolution, and its related economic and strategic advantages, are being blown out of all proportion.

When the big energy companies and Western governments push in the same direction, they can, for a while anyway, create any conventional wisdom they like, even one with little regard for the facts.

Read the full article here – Do not be seduced by a ‘fracking’ gas bonanza – Telegraph.

On 5th September, a delegation from the Fermanagh Fracking Awareness Network met with the Environment Minister, Mr Alex Attwood, in Belfast.  During the meeting, they presented information to the Minister about the current proposals for shale gas extraction in the county and their probable impact, about the geology of the area and its consequent dangers, about Northern Ireland’s responsibilities under the Habitats Directive, (which protects endangered species and landscapes) and about the health implications of fracking in Fermanagh.  The meeting was very positive and we are grateful to the Minister for his careful consideration of the facts provided.

Following the meeting, Dr. Carroll O’Dolan wrote to the Minister thanking him for his time and requesting that the Department of Health be represented in the inter-departmental Shlae Gas Forum.  We were very pleased to receive a prompt reply from Mr. Attwood confirming that this would be the case and that he would use all efforts to ensure that the forum would address all relevant issues including health-related matters.  For further news about FFAN and the Department of Health, watch this space …

Note:  All the presentations and letters referred to are available on our Documents page or by clicking on the highlighted text.