LETTER: Legitimate fears over fracking

The Government is so determined to force fracking through, it has decided to scrap trespass laws and allow oil and gas companies to run pipelines under private land without seeking the owners’ consent.

This flies in the face of public opinion: 75 per cent of us don’t want the new fracking law.

But rather than listen to people’s legitimate concerns over the environmental, health and economic risks of fracking, the Government is steamrolling through legislation that will deny people any say in what happens to the ground beneath their homes.

Mounting evidence shows that fracking will be a disaster for the environment and the economy.

Instead of pouring money into a whole new fossil fuels industry, the Government needs to prioritise investment in energy efficiency and genuinely low or zero carbon energy technologies such as tidal, wind and solar.

Investment in clean energy will mean new green jobs and industries and greater energy security, while reducing the risk of dangerous climate change.

KEITH TAYLOR

Green Party MEP for South East England, Office of the Green MEPs, CAN Mezzanine, 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH