Fracking earthquakes 'small inconvenience' to get domestic gas stores, Tory MP claims
14 February 2022, 10:39 | Updated: 14 February 2022, 10:47
Banning fracking 'mad cap move' that ignores energy crisis
Chair of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group tells LBC that Brits should be prepared to put up with 'small inconveniences' if the UK was to adopt domestic fracking.
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The government have come under fire from energy companies for "double standards" on the energy crisis, as gas continues to be imported from abroad while domestic gas sits "under our feet".
"Do you think banning fracking was a political decision?" Tom Swarbrick asked Craig Mackinlay, Conservative MP and chair of the Net Zero Scrutiny group.
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"I think it's all part of this rather mad cap moves towards net zero that ignores the reality" he replied, telling LBC listeners that even the most hardline net zero advocates "accept that gas is going to be part of our energy mix for a generation."
"We were blessed in this country by mother nature with a lot of gas and it makes completely no sense that we would be importing gas when we have that answer beneath our feet."
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Fracking won't return because "the earthquake risk is too high"
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He added that a move to cultivate domestic gas stores would create lots of jobs in red wall seats and thus help level up the north.
"What about the earthquakes?" Tom wondered, referencing data showing that fracking can cause large scale tremors in the vicinity of the drilling, and also health concerns that have risen from the US where water supplies have been contaminated in Michigan and other places.
The Tory MP stressed the need for "proper scientific analysis" on the matter before any contracts to companies are awarded. He also reminded Tom that coal mining used to cause small tremors around sites.
"We have got to make a decision: Do we want to spend money abroad, we know what that means in geopolitics, say with Putin's Russia...or are we willing to put up with any small inconvenience to come up from domestic fracking?"
