This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/04/greenpeace-protesters-frack-lancashire-council
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Greenpeace protesters 'frack' Lancashire council hall | Greenpeace protesters 'frack' Lancashire council hall |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Around 10 protesters from Greenpeace have erected a mock drilling rig outside Lancashire council hall, in protest at plans by energy company Cuadrilla to resume fracking in the county this autumn. | Around 10 protesters from Greenpeace have erected a mock drilling rig outside Lancashire council hall, in protest at plans by energy company Cuadrilla to resume fracking in the county this autumn. |
| The action follows a similar stunt by the green group in March, when it set up a rig in the Cheshire constituency of the chancellor, George Osborne, who has been one of the most vocal backers of fracking for shale gas. | |
| Liz Stanton, a Preston resident and Greenpeace supporter, told the Guardian that she was protesting because fracking was not going to bring Lancashire any benefits. "It's going to bring heavy industrial aggravation, water pollution, and it's not going to bring the jobs like we've been promised." | Liz Stanton, a Preston resident and Greenpeace supporter, told the Guardian that she was protesting because fracking was not going to bring Lancashire any benefits. "It's going to bring heavy industrial aggravation, water pollution, and it's not going to bring the jobs like we've been promised." |
| She said the local mood was "very positive" towards opposition to fracking and that while a "couple [of people] have not wanted to take our letters [this morning]" most had wished her good luck. | |
| The activists have put an eight foot-high fence around the rig, and protesters are wearing hard hats and high-vis jackets with the fictional company name "Frack & Go". | |
| Cuadrilla, the energy company that has already undertaken fracking operations in Lancashire but suspended them after earthquakes in 2011, told the Guardian that it will resume operations in Lancashire at the end of the month. On Tuesday, the company also said it would be applying for new licences to drill for oil at its site in Balcombe, West Sussex, which has become the focus of anti-fracking protests in the past two months and where a small camp of activists remains. | |
| A spokesman for Lancashire county council said no planning decisions were currently scheduled regarding fracking operations. | A spokesman for Lancashire county council said no planning decisions were currently scheduled regarding fracking operations. |
| This week, leading economist Lord Stern said that claims made by David Cameron last month that exploiting shale gas in the UK would bring down energy prices were "baseless." | This week, leading economist Lord Stern said that claims made by David Cameron last month that exploiting shale gas in the UK would bring down energy prices were "baseless." |
| "I do think it's a bit odd to say you know that it will bring the price of gas down. That doesn't look like sound economics to me. It's baseless economics," he told the Independent. | "I do think it's a bit odd to say you know that it will bring the price of gas down. That doesn't look like sound economics to me. It's baseless economics," he told the Independent. |