We keep hearing people in authority making statements about fracking which simply don’t match the generally accepted reality. Perpetuating or creating myths in an attempt to bolster support for fracking is at best disingenuous and we think you need to ask yourselves why these people are saying these things.
Fracking will lower energy bills
The DECC, The cross party Committee on Climate Change and several industry commentators and players have all agreed that shale gas extraction is highly unlikely to result in reductions to household or industrial energy bills. These guys apparently know different:
| Name | Claim | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Grayling, Conservative Justice Minister | A Conservative cabinet minister has claimed drilling for shale gas could make the "single biggest difference to the cost of living" for people in Britain. Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, said he believes the controversial process known as fracking is the "solution" to the problem of high energy bills. | Speech at Conservative Party Conference | 2013 09 29 |
| Boris Johnson, Conservative Mayor of London | The senior Tory said turning to a new generation of nuclear plants and fracking would cut energy bills and boost the economy | The Sun | 2013 09 15 |
| Owen Paterson, Conservative Environment Secretary | Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, has held out the prospect that a fracking boom in the UK would lower energy prices – just a day after leading climate change economist Lord Stern dismissed a similar claim by David Cameron as “baseless”. | The Independent | 2013 09 04 |
| Murdo Fraser, Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife | This (CBM) can help to reduce the cost of bills, like in the US. | The Daily Record | 2013 09 03 |
| George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer & Conservative MP for Tatton | If we turn our back as a country on sources of new energy, which countries like China and the United States are exploiting, then we are we are saying to British families: 'You pay energy bills that are higher than those paid by families elsewhere.' | Speech at the Offshore Europe 2013 conference in Aberdeen | 2013 09 03 |
| Pritti Patel, Conservative MP for Witham | If Britain can achieve the same degree of success as the USA, domestic gas prices could also fall by as much as 60%, which could help keep household energy bills down. | Conservative Home Blog | 2013 08 26 |
| Lord Lawson, Conservative Peer | And they are backed by well-funded Green pressure groups, such as Friends of the Earth, who are preparing unending legal challenges for anyone seeking to provide us with cheap energy from shale. | The Sun | 2013 07 09 |
| Stuart Jackson MP, Conservative, Peterborough | Britain’s huge shale gas reserves are central to a new energy strategy that will boost growth, create new jobs and cut bills and carbon emissions. | Peterborough Telegraph | 2013 07 05 |
| Murdo Fraser, Conservative MSP | Shale gas has revolutionised energy markets in the US and has substantially reduced costs for both consumers and industry and I believe it has the potential to do the same for Scotland. | The Courier | 2013 06 18 |
| Staff Reporter | Shale gas has the potential to significantly cut the cost of gas to British homes and companies. Gas prices have halved in the United States since 2005, when shale gas production started there. | Liverpool Express | 2013 06 18 |
| David Cameron, Conservative, Prime Minister | But also there is an opportunity to get cheaper supplies of energy ... | Blackpool Gazette | 2013 06 05 |
| Francis Maude, Conservative MP for Horsham | It is a promising new potential energy resource which could reduce our reliance on imported gas and help lower household energy bills. | West Sussex Gazette | 2013 06 02 |
| Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover and Deal | Onshore gas exploration – known as fracking – offers the potential for that holy grail of lower bills. .... Let's make sure we have consumer justice and benefit our economy with lower bills for all. | Dover Express | 2013 05 30 |
| Christopher Pincher, Conservative MP for Tamworth. | ..initial assessments suggest that production levels of 12bcf per year will start to have a positive impact on our domestic energy prices. | Conservative Home Blog | 2013 05 29 |
| Tony Attard, Chief executive of the Institute of Directors in the North West | Tony Attard, chief executive of the Institute of Directors in the North West, said he believed the emergence of a new energy source would slash bills for homes and businesses. | Lancashire Evening Post | 2013 05 20 |
| George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer & Conservative MP for Tatton (Reported) | Many senior Tories, including Mr Osborne believe shale gas is an “exciting opportunity” and has the potential to bring down energy bills . | Financial Tmes | 2013 04 28 |
Shale Gas Resources
The BGS released a report in July 2013 which suggested that there might be as much as 1,300 tcf of shale gas under the UK. The report is peppered with caveats about the lack of reliable base data and makes it extremely clear that drawing any conclusions as to reserve sizes would be highly premature. This has not stopped prominent politicians and the industry from publicly doing exactly that.
| Name | Claim | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord Lawson, Conservative Peer | According to the British Geological Survey, there is enough now known to lie under Lancashire and Yorkshire alone to satisfy all the UK’s needs at the present rate of consumption for between 50 and 100 years. | The Sun | 2013 07 09 |
| Francis Egan, CEO, Cuadrilla | The BGS has confirmed that Lancashire is sitting on several hundred trillion cubic feet of natural gas | Radio Lancashire | 2013 07 05 |
Fracking fluid does not contain any hazardous or toxic components
On 24th April 2013 the Advertising Standards authority criticised Cuadrilla’s claim that “Cuadrilla’s fracturing fluid does not contain hazardous or toxic components” stating that it breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation). This has not stopped high profile pro-fracking lobbyists from forgetting to mention the hazardous or toxic components when they try to persuade us what a good thing fracking will be for us all
| Name | Claim | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Lilley Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden | Hydraulic fracturing, to give fracking its full name, simply involves pumping water under great pressure into shale beds several kilometres underground until tiny fissures open up, which are then kept open by grains of sand so that the gas can flow out. | Daily Telegraph | 2013 04 29 |
| Lord Browne - Coalition Government's Lead Non-Executive Director and Cuadrilla Chairman | Fracking is a good thing to do. It can be done very safely and very cleanly. It's not new. ... It involves putting water and sand at high pressure into rocks and making holes in the rocks. | The Andrew Marr Show | 2013 05 12 |
| Christopher Pincher Conservative MP for Tamworth | Lest anyone forget, the chemicals used in fracking do not make you glow in the dark. They are the sort of chemicals everyone has under their kitchen sink (and which they flush down the plug hole) every day. | Conservative Home Blog | 2013 05 29 |
| Cuadrilla | Before hydraulic fracturing takes place, the EA must approve the proposed composition of Cuadrilla’s fracturing fluid, which along with fresh water and sand includes: Polyacrylamide friction reducer Hydrochloric acid Biocide Sodium salt None of Cuadrilla’s fracturing fluid contains hazardous or toxic components. | Cuadrilla Web Site | 2013 06 18 |
Please do let us know if you come across other examples which you think should be added here!
