Write To Them

I am not apologising for posting more politics today: please write to your councillors and your MP and maybe even a Lord and your local press to voice your concerns about hydraulic fracturing.  The evidence that it is causing pollution in the air and in our water, as well as serious health issues is mounting, but still our government is doggedly pressing ahead. The link below makes it easy to do.

Ordinary people have no legal say in the matter, which is why we need to lobby those that do.  


https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.writetothem.com%2F&h=eAQGil3x_


Sadly, what we have in this country is not a democracy, because the people with the power are big corporations, not our politicians, who are in the pockets of the business people. These companies' fracking activities have been likened to a ponzy scheme, which is true, I think.

Kleptocracy. noun

1. A form of political and government

corruption where the government

exists to increase the personal wealth

and political power of its officials and 

the ruling class at the expense of the

wider population

This is much closer to what we have in this country now I think.

I am becoming increasingly alarmed at the silence of Ryedale District and North Yorkshire County councils regarding  this issue.  We have asked for open meetings but still nothing has been announced. We have been told that the planning department at the county council is in regular consultation with Third Energy, but they have not, as far as I am aware, sought the opinions of concerned residents, nor the expertise and knowledge of neutral engineers or scientists. I may be wrong on this matter, I hope I am, but the silence from these people, elected to represent us, is deafening.

Third Energy, the company that has applied for permission to frack at their site in Kirkbymisperton, North Yorkshire has held some meetings with local residents, but they have not been widely publicised and some of them have been secret.  I live a mile from the proposed well site and I have never received a brochure nor an invitiation to meet with them.  Yet, the well site will probably be more visible from my house than the houses of the residents of Kirkbymisperton.  We have been kept awake in the past by the lighting and noise from a conventional gas extraction rig on this site, so I can only dread the effects on our lives from a well that is using hydraulic fracture gas extraction.  Yet I have not been included in any of the so called "consultation with local people" that Third Energy so proudly talks about in their interviews and publications.  I should also be clear; even if this hydraulic fracturing well was not near where I live, I would still be fighting it as hard.

Great work being done to fight fracking

There are so many organisations working hard to spread the word about the dangers of fracking and helping to fight our government over this issue.  Green Peace and Friends of the Earth do so much to rally people, raise funds etc.

This link from FOE popped up on my facebook page this morning, it mentions Ryedale, and is well worth a read:
https://www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/friends-earths-yorkshire-humber-update-november-2014-74775.pdf

Along with the work being done by these excellent organisations, ordinary people are gathering their strength and doing remarkable things.  Frack Free groups have been formed all over the country; web sites, twitter sites, facebook sites have all been set up to give people somewhere to gather information from, enable them to make contact and join the struggle against the devastation of our countryside.

I received this brilliant poster today, please feel free to copy it and print it off, spread it all over where you live!  

I will not be voting for anyone that condones or supports hydraulic fracturing in any way! Where is this subject even mentioned in the manifestos of our political parties?  I want to hear this being discussed as an election issue on the BBC too!