Cuadrilla has pledged to restart fracking for shale gas at its site in northern England on Monday in spite of a second earth tremor in two days. The energy company was forced on Friday to halt its operations near Blackpool – which involve pumping water into shale rocks several kilometres underground at high pressure to extract gas – after a tremor of 0.76 on the Richter scale. A slightly larger tremor of 0.78 – undetectable at ground level – happened on Saturday, after the company had ceased operations at the Preston New Road site at 1pm. In total, there have been 18 tremors in 12 days since Cuadrilla resumed fracking this month after a seven-year hiatus.
FT 28th Oct 2018 read more »
Zac Goldsmith has warned ministers that their plans to fast-track fracking risk turning whole regions of the country against the Conservatives and igniting a political backlash. The Tory MP for Richmond said people had legitimate concerns about fracking and that government proposals to bypass local planning decisions on shale gas wells were a mistake. “Fracking is an issue that has the potential to turn whole regions against the government,” he told the Guardian. “The drilling rigs and pollution, the industrial equipment and sheer volume of trucks all make it an alarming prospect for communities up and down the country.”
Guardian 28th Oct 2018 read more »
A group of major pension funds have challenged some of the world’s biggest companies to rethink their funding of trade bodies that lobby in favour of high-polluting fossil fuels. The Church of England Pensions Board, Legal & General Investment Management, Robeco and Swedish national pension fund AP7, which together manage £2 trillion in funds, have written to 55 multinationals asking them to review their association with groups whose “lobbying positions are inconsistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement”.
Telegraph 29th Oct 2018 read more »
Business Green 29th Oct 2018 read more »