Apologies for the
very belated blog post. It is already a third of the way into August! My
promise of a regular blog on a Thursday will also be another commitment that I
will also be broken.
Now I do have an
explanation for why I am so late with my blog and why I have decided to change
the day that I blog. My lateness is due to a combination of a quirk of the
calendar, fracking meetings, unreliable technology and my Nan's 80th
birthday. So there are some legitimate reasons for why I am behind in my blogging.
For auld lang syne,
my jo
My reasoning for
changing my blogging day is due to the upcoming independence referendum in
Scotland. Yesterday (August 11th) was the 5 week mark until the
referendum on September 18th. My plan is from next Monday (August 18th)
onwards to do a series of blog posts on the referendum. These will cover the
key issues of the debate, an analysis of the polls and my own opinion on what's
occurring north of the border.
Now I welcome both
the Yes and No campaigns to comment/critique my posts, so that there can be a
constructive debate on the issues raised. I will also do a special blog post on
September 18th (polling day) itself. This will be followed up by an
analysis of the results and we can see whether Scotland has voted Yay or Nay on
independence.
In recognition of
this, I have also changed my blog poll to:
"Should
Scotland be an independent country?"
This is the same
question that the Scottish electorate will be asked. So I urge all readers to
participate.
Chesterfield
Politics
Finally, I am also
planning to continue my other series on Chesterfield politics. I have been in
contact with the local Labour, Lib Dem and UKIP parties, to quiz them on why
they feel they are best disposed to represent the people of Chesterfield. In
other news, I have also been contemplating the notion of standing as a Green
candidate in May 2015. So for further updates, watch this space!
Fracking
Now getting down to
the issue that I really want to discuss: fracking. Fracking is currently a very
topical issue within the Green Party. With the Green Party as having come out
vehemently opposed to the whole process of fracking.
A protester at the Frack Free South Yorkshire led protest and rally in Sheffield.
But what exactly is
fracking?
Well Wikipedia
(reliable as ever) describes fracking or hydraulic fracturing as:
"..the
fracturing of rock by a pressurized liquid."
This is a very broad
definition of what fracking is and also includes natural causes. The type of fracking
that has the Greens so riled is Induced hydraulic fracturing a.k.a.
hydrofracking, fracking and fraccing. Again thanks to Wikipedia this is defined
as:
"..a well
simulation technique in which a high pressure fluid (usually water mixed with
sand and chemicals) is injected into a well bore in order to create small
fractures (<1.0mm wide) in deep rock formations in order to allow natural
gas, petroleum and brine to migrate to the well."
Well now that we
have a definition of fracking is, but why does it get the Green Party's blood
pressure up. Now I can only speak from what I have seen and my own opinions on
the issue.
The main contention
is in the UK with fracking is what happens to that "pleasant" soup of
water, sand and chemicals after the fossil resource/ shale gas has been
extracted. Where fracking has been in operation in other countries, notably the
United States and Australia, there have been reports on massive environmental
contamination of both groundwater and drinking water. With some very extreme
cases as shown in the video link below of people being able to set fire to tap
water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBjSXWQRV8This video was provided by the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition (see link below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBjSXWQRV8This video was provided by the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition (see link below).
Now I am no
geologist, but I have studied a fair bit on groundwater and chemical leaching
as part of my MSc degree, and I don't want to bore you with the details.
However, I do think cases like this show that there is some risk potentially
posed to water supplies from fracking.
What fracking also
highlights to me is how desperate we are as a society that we have to blast
fossil fuels from the ground beneath us. Likewise to the massive tar sands
operations in Alberta, Canada (pictured). It shows how we (myself included) as
society are addicted to fossil fuels and will go to any lengths to get them.
The scale of the tar sands operations in Northern Alberta, Canada
Anti Tar Sands protesters in London.
Critics of my
opinion would argue:
"We have the
technology to persue fracking in the UK, why not?"
"Think of the
jobs that fracking will create in the UK."
"The UK will be
able to be self-sufficient in its energy supply!"
I can see that there
is grounding for these arguments. The appeal of a domestic energy sector that
allows the UK to have long lasting jobs and to also end our reliance on Middle
East oil does sound good. However at
what cost do you want that? The UK has long been described as a "green
and pleasant land", and I fear that we have the potential with
fracking to threaten that.
Going back to the
technology argument for fracking, well we also have the technology for
renewable. Now I know that renewables aren't necessarily the fabled magic
bullet to the UK's energy crisis. I view them as part of the solution, along
with a national drive to create a more sustainable and energy efficient
economy.
This is one of the
reasons why I support the Green Party as I feel that their policy of a Green
New Deal hits the nail on the head.
Now conscious of
going on a bit here, I will draw this week's blog to a close. However I will
provide you all with a few links to websites, for those of you who like a bit
of additional reading below. I also promise to continue this series on
fracking, as it is an ongoing issue and will continue to develop. Plus I want
to discuss my role with Frack Free South Yorkshire, whose link can be found
below. So over and out!
Frack Free South Yorkshire
http://www.frackfreesouthyorkshire.co.uk/
http://www.frackfreesouthyorkshire.co.uk/
The Guardian section on fracking
A recent Guardian article on the secondary effects of fracking.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/10/fracking-censored-house-price-report
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/10/fracking-censored-house-price-report
Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion being arrested
The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition
http://www.gdacoalition.org/GDAC_ABOUT_US.html
http://www.gdacoalition.org/GDAC_ABOUT_US.html
No comments:
Post a Comment