Witness on Pendle Hill
Jennifer Wilkinson writes about the anti-fracking witness on Pendle Hill
Friends from far and wide will hold a half-hour Meeting for Worship on the top of Pendle Hill on 6 May to show solidarity with the anti-fracking movement. This position is not radical or controversial. On the contrary, it merely echoes mainstream views held by the general public.
James Connolly, the Irish political activist, once wrote: ‘our demands most moderate are/We only want the earth.’ His vision was of a world in which people do not feel alienated from their environment in a culture of individualism that gives primacy to profit. He advocated a world not organised to make the few prosperous at the expense of common needs and interests, a world where human beings return to a natural bond and understanding of their habitats.
Everyone cares about the quality of life of their children and grandchildren. No one, I feel, whatever their political or religious views, would knowingly inflict pollution, ill health and earthquakes on future generations.
However, we live in a culture where grabbing financial chances is given primacy over human beings and the environment. High energy use and profits underpin a view that there should be freedom to plunder our earth without boundaries. Many have lost the respect that people had for their habitat and the sense of ‘take and give back’. They feel no intimate connection with our world. We have become the most dangerous predators on the face of the planet.
What kind of earth will we leave our children and future generations? Will we have caused so much destruction that, one day, there may be no earth for them to inherit? There are 200 identified fracking sites in Britain, and drilling licences have been issued to several companies. Preparatory work on the outskirts of Blackpool is currently underway. People are permanently protesting there because they know that fracking will become widespread if it is not stopped now. People of all ages, religions and political perspectives are coming together from all over the country to show their love and respect for this precious little island of ours.
Fracking is based on a culture of short-term gain. Never mind tomorrow – we want profit now. The fracking company bosses won’t be around to suffer the consequences of their actions. Where profit is the driving force of change, it can never be assumed that the change is socially beneficial or necessary. Should all of us not cry out that we only want the earth?
The public relations companies employed by fracking company Cuadrilla are working full tilt to persuade us that the risk of poisoning the land is worth taking, drumming up fears of Russian energy giants and talking about fuel security. The truth is that only a small proportion of our oil and gas comes from Russia. This is unlikely to change. According to the government’s Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) report in 2016, 96.52 per cent of our imported gas comes from Norway, Qatar and the Netherlands – not Russia.
Take a look at the money behind Cuadrilla and the other fracking companies, and what do we find? Not British-controlled interests but companies based in offshore tax havens – Australian firms controlled by Chinese interests. There are massive vested interests at play. Will they care what happens to the Lancashire countryside and beyond? I’m not sure I want that sort of ‘energy security’, thanks!
On the price of gas, fracking cannot make any difference as all the gas produced in the UK is traded on the open market and sold to the highest bidder. The government, therefore, cannot ‘reserve gas for the UK’, or control the price. If private companies can earn more money by selling gas abroad, they will. The UK currently exports nearly thirty per cent of the gas it produces.
Sadly, though, the facts are not being heard loudly enough. Spurious claims are part of the hype about fracking, but if you hear ‘alternative truths’ often enough, they start to sound true.
Further information: www.quaker.org.uk/fracking
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