Fracking: Bad news

Bad news – last night MPs voted to give the green light to fracking across the UK. 50 MPs broke ranks to vote against the plans, but it wasn’t enough. Trespass laws have changed: now dirty energy companies can apply to drill for oil and gas under our homes.

Days like today are difficult. But we urgently need to channel our frustration into hope – because tomorrow, Lancashire County Council could vote to block fracking in Lancashire. [2] Local councils still have the power to block fracking, so this is a test case. Council by council, we could start to turn the tide.

38 Degrees members in Lancashire are pushing their council hard to do the right thing tomorrow. In the wake of yesterday’s vote, let’s stand with them – and prove that across the country, we’re not done fighting yet. Please click here to add your name to a huge message of support for 38 Degrees members fighting fracking in Lancashire.

Losses like yesterday’s prove that we’ve got a long way to go to get MPs to stand up for the environment. But without pressure from 38 Degrees members, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and thousands of grassroots groups, it could’ve been much worse.

Yesterday’s vote had some positives: fracking is now banned in national parks. And it wasn’t an easy vote for the government to win. Slowly, because of everything 38 Degrees members and climate change campaigners have done together, support for fracking is wavering – and MPs are feeling the heat.

Now let’s take the fight to a local level: council by council, let’s push fracking back. Three of the MPs who voted against fracking yesterday were from Lancashire – so the pressure is on for Lancashire Council to block it.