CHANCELLOR George Osborne says Britain should be in favour of new forms of energy like fracking which could cut bills and carbon emissions and create jobs.
May I point out to your readers, that there is no evidence anywhere, to suggest it will reduce anyone’s energy bills, and what evidence there is from the USA, which has the most fracking wells of any country in the world, would point to fracking being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than coal fired power stations are, this being due to leaks of methane gas inherent in the fracking process, which is over 25 times more potent a GHG than CO2.
That’s also without the attendant problems of water and air pollution, earthquakes, tremors and subsidence of which there are numerous examples.
As far as new jobs are concerned, fracking will create considerably less jobs per £1 invested. As a result what the chancellor has to say is pretty hollow.
Stephen Hall President
Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils
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