Fracking: The Sun

You might have seen an article in today’s Sun about fracking. The piece said that 38 Degrees wasn’t accurate when we highlighted areas – including central London – which the government has earmarked for fracking.

The Sun’s got it wrong. Although it might sound bonkers, according to the government’s own maps, Islington is an ‘area under consideration’ for the extraction of oil and gas.

Of course, it has alarmed many 38 Degrees members that where they live is on the government’s fracking wishlist – because these areas include some of the country’s busiest city centres. But the staff team has used the government’s own data as the source for our information.

It’s really important that 38 Degrees members have all the facts at their disposal – so here they are.

Click here to see a government report on oil and gas exploration. On page 5, figure 1.1 shows the ‘areas under consideration and currently licensed areas’. If you zoom in, you’ll see that most of London is in the ‘under consideration’ zone.

Friends of the Earth have created an easy-to-use version of the government’s map, where you can pop in your postcode to see if your area has been earmarked as a potential fracking side:
https://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/issues/uk_fracking_map_41274

In fact, a fracking company has already applied for a licence to frack within the M25. No wonder so many people are concerned – it just doesn’t seem as if fracking plans have been properly thought through.

Although MPs voted on Monday to keep pushing ahead with fracking in the UK, the fight isn’t over. In fact it’s only just getting going. Together, we can take the fight to a local level. Council by council, we can keep pushing fracking back.

That starts with Lancashire, where the county council will be deciding over the next few days whether to allow fracking in the area. 38 Degrees members, alongside Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and thousands of grassroots campaigners are pressuring the council to vote the right way.