NO RETURN OF FRACKING
Media notice – for immediate dispatch
Worrying voices are being raised within the Conservative Party that a return to fracking, with all the polluting effects, is back on the cards.
This is also a narrative spun in Carlisle by the deputy leader of the City Council, Gareth Ellis, who recently stated that fracking is needed in response to rising energy costs. This is false. It also distracts from the reality that it is the failure of this Conservative government to invest in renewables and energy efficiency that is costing us all right now.
Chair of the Carlisle Green Party Gavin Hawkton:
“Yet again, we see a Conservative politician attempting to shift blame for another Tory mess onto others – this time Councillor Ellis wants you to believe that it’s the ‘environmentalists’ who are to blame for rising fuel costs”
“The truth is it is our leaders who have failed us. It is their failure to invest in renewables and energy efficiency that’s costing us all right now”
“We need to change direction and be part of the solution in Cumbria. The drive towards free and abundant renewable energy is the direction we need to be moving in. The Green Party is calling for a Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis and create thousands of sustainable and good paying jobs. The Cumbria Action for Sustainability report highlighted that 9,000 Green jobs could be created in Cumbria alone.”
“Cumbria Action for Sustainability has also stated that Cumbria could attract £8.8bn of investment in low-carbon sectors through to 2025, while also reducing its annual energy costs by £854m”
“For this to happen we need braver politicians who are willing to change course, stop an over-reliance on foreign gas and tackle the huge profits being made by energy companies. Conservative politicians have been busy looking after their mates rather than help ordinary residents with their fuel bills”
“A windfall tax alone could raise 4 billion pounds to protect the most vulnerable in society from falling further into fuel poverty. It could also help to insulate our homes, which are the most energy inefficient in Europe, to help get our energy bills down”
“The politicians that we currently have are not going to bring this change. Councillor Ellis incoherent ramblings on the matter was that ‘environmentalists would rather we imported gas from despotic war mongering regimes than get the stuff out of the ground ourselves’ and that ‘green taxes should be suspended immediately’ in favour of fracking”
“This is an irresponsible message to send out as we face a climate crisis and one that stands in contrast to his own Conservative-led City Council who claim to be pushing towards achieving net zero by 2037. Environmentalists have been clear that they want all fossil fuels, including gas, to stay in the ground”
“Rather than going back to fracking, polluting our environment and further enriching shareholders of gas companies we need a clean energy system of the future. The Green Party is calling for an energy system that is brought back into public ownership so that we’re all in control of our destiny. It can be done. We need the political will to make it a reality”.
ENDS