Protestors from Greenpeace have staged an innovative new demonstration to oppose fracking plans in the UK.
Cheshire, the northern county renowned for its rolling green countryside, Range Rovers, football stars and their WAGS, has seen licenses for natural gas production handed out to several fracking companies.
On Monday, during the morning rush hour, as a demonstration against these licenses, members of Greenpeace set up a hydraulic fracturing drilling rig in the small Cheshire town of Knutsford Heath. The location of this demonstration was no accident, it just happens to be the local constituency of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.
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The team of protestors, wearing high-viz jackets, attached a sign displaying their fictional company name 'Frack & Go' over the sign of Osborne's Conservative headquarters, and then erected a drilling rig just opposite. They were careful not to disrupt the flow of traffic, yet still put up signs saying: "We apologise for any inconvenience while we frack your town." A phone number was also provided for anyone that felt inconvenienced; a phone number which was actually that of Osborne's office.
A local poll commissioned by Greenpeace found that 52% of Osborne's constituents would prefer to focus on renewable energy such as wind and solar, compared to just 15% who want natural gas.
Lawrence Carter the Greenpeace campaigner explained that, "Tatton is just one of hundreds of constituencies up and down the country earmarked for possible fracking as part of George Osborne's disastrous energy plan.
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The chancellor needs to explain to his constituents why he's happy for their local area to be fracked when everyone from Ofgem to BP to the energy secretary says shale gas won't reduce our energy bills. And he must explain why increasing UK reliance on expensive, polluting gas is a good idea when we should be moving towards a carbon-free electricity system.
He has also used the fantasy of a UK shale gas boom to justify building 40 new gas-fired power stations and increase the UK's reliance on gas. Consumers will end up paying the price for this."
By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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