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Fracking Go-ahead For National Parks as Controversial Infrastructure Act Becomes Law

February 14, 2015

Fracking Go-ahead For National Parks as Controversial Infrastructure Act Becomes Law

Weak fracking rules have officially been enshrined in law as the controversialInfrastructure Bill became an actlast night.

The new act will see national parks and groundwater protection zones at riskfrom fracking as the government backtracked on amendments agreed only weeks ago to increase the safety of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.

Amber Rudd, energy minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), said: “In the case of areas of outstanding natural beauty and national parks, given their size and dispersion, it might not be practical to guarantee that fracking will not take place under them in all cases without unduly constraining the industry.”

She was supported by Peter Lilley, a self-described ‘global lukewarmist’Conservative MP, who said fracking should be  “pursued energetically”.

Conservative Votes

The weak fracking rules were passed by the House of Commons last night in a vote of 257 to 203 with five Conservative MPs defying the government’s stance on fracking.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Flustered Liz Truss Blames Civil Servants for Redacted Fracking Report Fiasco

January 30, 2015

Flustered Liz Truss Blames Civil Servants for Redacted Fracking Report Fiasco

Liz Truss, the environment secretary, turned on her own department yesterday as the Tory government came under increasing criticism for its heavy-handed redactions to a controversial report about fracking.

Truss, a Conservative member of the Cabinet, toldthe House of Commons there are “no plans” for the release of an unredacted version of the incedury Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts report and blamed her own officials at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

She complained that Defra should never have produced the report. “The economic impact of fracking is a matter for the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC),” she argued. She said the report “was not analytically robust and was not signed off by Ministers”.

This echoes statements made by Amber Rudd, the Under Secretary of State at DECC, on Monday during the Infrastructure Bill debate. The Tory told MPs that the report was prepared by a junior member in another department “and it was not appropriate for them to have done so”.

Labour were quick to attack the government. Maria Eagle, shadow environment secretary, said: “Ministers have responsibility for what is done in their Department. The report has been so heavily redacted that even the name of its author has been removed.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

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