The media has dubbed it 'The Battle of 'Balcombe' and while it might sound a little bit overdramatic, it might be quite fitting for the start of the UK battle of the highly controversial fracking method.
We're being told that fracking is needed to keep the lights on and that it actually will help our climate change targets as gas is the least potent greenhouse gas. That is partly right but only when it comes to CO2 emissions, as fracking wells also release potent methane emissions into the atmosphere. US filmmaker Josh Fox, who rose to fame with his film 'Gasland' and started the now worldwide anti-fracking movement, is now ready with a new documentary 'Gasland 2', which will reveal yet more controversies about the shale gas industry. Here he is on Democracy Now talking about Gasland 2.
On Saturday, together with a few fellow Greenpeace activists, I went to Balcombe to witness what was going on and at once I realised what people were fighting for. Fear was the overriding theme, people fighting for their future, a future where they didn't have to worry about clean drinking water, localised pollution and turning their village into an industrial fracking powerhouse such as is happening now with the threat of fracking. It's also worth mentioning that Balcombe sits in a conservative constituency and many of the people now protesting have never protested in their life before. Obviously they feel it's too important not to.
If there is something that the last week has told us, it's that the movement against fracking is not set to be a fringe left idealistic movement. In the last week it has received more news coverage than any environmental issue I can remember, pointing to it being a mianstream issue.
And this is just the beginning. All over the UK, anti-fracking groups are being formed ready to confront the shale gas companies when they come to their community.
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