David Frost, the former Brexit minister, has joined Conservative MPs in writing an Open Letter to Boris Johnson, calling for a resumption fracking in the UK. This is another sign of the ongoing battle within Conservative over environmental issues.
Lord Frost believed that domestic shale gas extraction would make the UK a reliable and competitive energy source. Zac Goldsmith, a key green voice within the government, stated that it would not lower energy prices and would make ministers fight with angry communities.
The Conservative Net Zero Scrutiny Group, a group of Conservative MPs, organized the letter to Prime Minister. They argued against many green targets and levies and argued that the government should prioritise energy costs and better supply security.
Last week, climate scientists from leading universities told the Guardian that the group seemed to be trying to slow down a shift towards lower emissions. They accused them of including climate policies in a cultural war and spreading disinformation. This is a charge the NZSG strongly rejects.
The MPs letter, shared Sunday TelegraphAccording to the report, shale deposits in Lancashire and its surrounding counties can provide at least 50 years worth of affordable and sustainable gas.
It said: “If levelling up is to be understood as anything, it must be centered around empowering communities, not telling them what they can or cannot do.” Given the lack of public debate on our strategy to reach net zero we have abandoned this fundamentally conservative principle. It is time to reverse this moratorium.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that 29 MPs signed the letter, but only five of them were named by Craig Mackinlay (Steve Baker), John Whittingdale (John Whittingdale), Bob Blackman (Bob Blackman) and Julian Knight (Journal Telegraph). The letter’s organisers declined to divulge any additional names.
Frost, who has emerged in the Tory right as a leading dissident voice since resigning in December from his ministerial position, said to the Telegraph that fracking would provide a reliable and competitive source of energy and reduce dependence on imports.
Goldsmith, a Foreign Office minister who is also a peer, stated that to even replace half of the UK’s imports of gas, it would require 6,000 wells for fracking and all the associated equipment. There would also be endless transports of trucks carrying toxic chemicals and wastewater between sites. It’s difficult to imagine UK communities accepting this.
In a A series of tweetsGoldsmith stated that fracking is deeply unpopular with the general public and that any shale oil extracted would be sold on international market prices. This would not have an impact on UK bills.
He said that gas was still needed but added that government would need to manipulate the market and go to war against furious communities to have any impact. Every level of government would have to pay a huge price.
The George Osborne, a former Tory chancellor, offered tax breaks to fracking companies in his 2013 budget, before drilling licenses were later revoked. He told a House of Lords panel that more gas production would only increase the number of jobs. He claimed that fracked gas would make up only a small portion of global production and would therefore not have any influence on the international prices which determine what UK households will pay.
The government’s position is that fracking cannot be supported in the UK because it is not proven to be a resource.
Cuadrilla was the company that operated two shale-wells in Lancashire. The NZSG is supporting Cuadrilla. After warnings of possible earthquakes, the government stopped fracking in England in late 2019.
Cuadrilla announced that it was abandoning its Preston New Road shale-wells on Thursday. This was in response to the Oil and Gas Authority.
Cuadrilla and NZSG jointly announced the news in a joint press release. It included quotes from the Tory MPs Craig Mackinlay, and Steve Baker calling the decision “utter madness.”
The Telegraph article about NZSGs was published along with a comment piece by Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla. Egan called domestic fracking an obvious choice.
