No national interest in extracting shale gas

The motion described in your article “Bid to get anti-fracking support from Council”, June 6, was passed that day.

The very next day, a Government Planning Inspector gave consent for an exploratory drilling well at Harthill, near Rotherham, which is now likely to become the first shale gas site close to our city. While accepting that the project would be harmful to the landscape and have an impact on biodiversity, he gave great weight to the Government’s view that shale gas development is of national importance, that “the supply of natural gas is a key requirement for years to come if the UK is to successfully transition to a low-carbon economy”.

We already have secure gas supplies and our transition to a low-carbon economy is certainly not dependent on finding more. The much greater danger is that countries around the world develop too much of their collective gas resources and fail to meet climate targets. In any case, UK geology does not appear to lend itself to the easy extraction of shale gas, in what would be an energy-intensive process.

If it is genuinely seeking a prosperous, low-carbon future for us all, the Government should take more notice of the evidence in front of it. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are the ways forward. Local people and authorities oppose shale gas operations wherever operations are proposed because they can see the environmental harm and risks they will cause. With the imminent prospect of drilling near Sheffield, we would urge people to learn more about fracking and contact either Sheffield Climate Alliance or any of the many local anti-fracking campaign groups.

Chris Broome

On behalf of Sheffield Climate Alliance, (Sheffield, S8)