North Yorkshire anti-fracking campaigners have called on the government to ban new onshore oil and gas extraction following the commitment from the Liberal Democrats.
The plea comes as North Yorkshire Council assesses a controversial application for proppant squeeze method to extract the gas in Burniston, near Scarborough.
The Liberal Democrats’ new Climate and Nature policy, For People, For Planet, includes a commitment to ban all new onshore oil and gas extraction across the UK, including fracking.
The new policy would ban all new onshore coal, oil and gas exploration and production, which the party says “contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, damage communities, and local environments, and bring minimal benefit to energy security”.
The proppant squeeze technique has been described as “small-scale fracking” and has been accused by some of being a loophole in the UK’s moratorium on the fossil fuel extraction process.
Chris Garforth, from Frack Free Coastal Communities, said:
“Finally, a clear-cut, no-nonsense proposal from a major political party that leaves none of the wiggle room that oil and gas companies and politicians have been using to their advantage for so long.
“Time now for Ed Miliband and the Labour government to take a similar unequivocal stand for the climate, environment and economy.”
“We are up against a policy and legal framework that favours the fossil fuel polluters. Labour can solve this now by adopting a similar total ban on new onshore oil and gas exploration and production and protect communities everywhere.”
A site in Kirby Misperton was at the centre of a long-running protest in 2016, after Third Energy was given permission to extract shale gas, however the project failed to get consent from the government.
Sue Gough, Frack Free Ryedale, said:
“At Frack Free Ryedale, we spent years fighting fracking on our doorstep; it was a gruelling and divisive process.
“We know what damage this type of oil and gas exploration can cause. We carried out exhaustive research, and we presented our evidence to the relevant authorities to no avail.
“It should not have been like that, it caused great upheaval and stress within our communities, and it is happening again in North Yorkshire, in Burniston near Scarborough and now in Ryedale in the beautiful village of Foxholes.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the government intended to “ban fracking for good”.
They added:
“Through our Plan for Change, we will reignite our industrial heartlands as we seize the opportunities of the clean energy transition, and will continue to drive investment for businesses and communities in the UK.”
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