Protest at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 13 June 2018. Photo: Reclaim the Power
Five grandparents, aged 63-82, are taking part in an anti-fracking protest at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in central London.
They used chains and arm tubes to lock themselves together in the lobby at about 10am this morning.
The protest calls on the government not to grant fracking consent to Cuadrilla for its Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire.
Protest at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 13 June 2018. Photo: Reclaim the Power
Cuadrilla is preparing to frack the first horizontal shale gas well in the UK. If approved, this would be the first high volume hydraulic fracture in the UK since 2011, when the company’s operation at Preese Hall, near Blackpool, was linked to a series of small earthquakes.
The national pressure group, Reclaim the Power, which organised this morning’s action, said:
“We are are truly scared by the speed with which the earth’s ecosystems are being destroyed. We cannot make the earth a subsidiary of the economy. Those who follow us are more precious than anything.”
Protest at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 13 June 2018. Photo: Reclaim the Power
Protest at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 13 June 2018. Photo: Reclaim the Power
The Green Party co-leader, Jonathan Bartley, tweeted:
“Full solidarity with Grandparents for a Safe Earth and @reclaimthepower locked on at BEIS demanding Greg Clark says no to fracking”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said:
“We were one of the first countries to recognise and act on the global challenge posed by climate change. Since 1990 we have cut carbon emissions by over 40% and last year produced over 50% of electricity from low carbon sources.
“The UK has over 50 years of experience in regulating the onshore oil and gas industry, meaning the sector is governed by one of the safest, most environmentally sound and well-regulated systems in the world. These strong controls and laws will ensure shale gas can be explored safely and sustainably.”
Categories: Opposition
DRILL OR DROP? 
Reblogged this on nearlydead.
Well done everyone and top marks for the choice of venue!
Grandparent power! Another untapped valuable renewable resource!
Brilliant.Thank you to all involved.
Quick quick! Hire more security! Start an injunction against ‘Grandparents unknown’! Somebody pay somebody to make this go away!…….
Calm down
It’s windy Wednesday
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3034113/ben-jerrys-joins-the-campaign-to-support-onshore-windfarms
Well done humans; great response. Sorry that it came to this at your time of life, but RESPECT for your time and effort; thank you
Absolute heroes, I have such admiration for them and all the earth-conscious souls at RTP. This destructive government need to be held accountable for the insidious way that they are allowing these greedy frackers to destroy our precious environmental ecosystems all for the sake of protecting the O&G industry and their greedy investors.
Well, I suspect they managed the trip economically, via the OAP rail discounts. Electric or diesel?
Grandma and grandpa for renewables subsidies because they own solar pannel and land to rent out to wind farm. Lol.
And did anyone care to look at them ???
Or is it grandpa and grandma wanting to impose their personal idea on the rest of the country.
I see the spoilt grandchildren have arrived?
Ungrateful selfish little…..darlings?
Let’s hope that’s 5 less votes for Tory candidates. There are many grandparents in Balcombe who fear for the future of their children and grandchildren. The local Tory council decided that it was alright for massive HGVs to travel both ways past our Primary school to access the Lower Stumble exploratory site. The School is situated on a slope below the main road, and at a point where vehicles have to slow down because of a roundabout junction; so any emissions will flow down to the school and across the playgrounds. Wonderful! And they don’t even propose that any monitoring of emissions should take place. Not exactly showing any care for the people who they’re supposed to represent.
Well said Malcolm, all the talk of fracking gas being essential ignores the real human cost, and it is never for one second mentioned by the anti antis.
Children’s health and safety? Parents health and safety?
Water, air and land unusable, climate out of control, democratic and human rights out the window, injunctions, police state, right back to the fracking dark ages.
What do they care, provided they get their thirty pieces of bitcoin and a few billionaires in offshore tax haven runaway escape boltholes hiding from the mere sight of what they have done.
Way to go.
The only answer to that is renewable energy, it is really a very simple equation.
The choice, as always, is ours to make. Roll over and play dead, or stand up and be counted, or perhaps sit down and be counted,
Well done the grandparents for showing us the real meaning of legal protest.
I spoke on the telephone to another grandparent last night reference the “blockage” at Igas. He lives locally. His opinion was if anyone wanted to seek publicity by climbing on his vehicle, or blocking his way, they could achieve more than they wanted by ending up under it. Not an investor. Makes up his own mind and accepts developments will be in someone’s back yard. Doesn’t mind, currently, if it is his.
Takes all sorts-about two thirds pretty sorted.
Seems the SNP may have trumped (know how that word is enjoyed) with their little publicity stunt, regarding tomorrows papers.
ah yes, the convenient timing of the fictitious phone call….
I am that grandparent Sher, martin phoned me and I said nothing of the sort?
Quite the opposite in fact?
I told him exactly what Winston Churchill gestured to invading hoards?
Something seems to have been lost in the invading hoard fracking PR editing desk however?
Just goes to show Sher, when an industry such as fracking is founded upon lies, lies are all that emerge somewhat hot and steaming out of the only available orifices?
Rubbish in, Rubbish out is the anti anti moto.
PS-I will congratulate these five on their appearance. Much better turned out than the average anti. I trust they were still genuine, and not rent a mob(ility scooter!)
Sorry to offer some humour, but for the benefit of some who have been indicating depression is setting in.
Your standards are dropping off Sherwulfe! Is it really you, or did you employ a stand in, or “‘phone a friend”? Sorry if you don’t have a ‘phone, (or friend) living off grid, as you do.
Having had some experience in PR some years ago, I can understand the temptation of suggesting the wiser, older generation, has the experience to advise the younger generation. However, the generation crutch is not without it’s problems. Add another 10 years to the top of the range and you will get many who will say, ” we put our lives on the line for 6 years to prevent being told by others what we could do, because they knew better.” They may even remember the American drillers being rushed to the UK to try and produce some degree of energy security and prevent thousands of merchant seamen being slaughtered to bring oil to the UK through the U boat packs. But, that’s the problem with PR stunts-they can raise their own questions.
But, for the “younger generation” I have some good news. Jack, I know you had concerns around the future prospects of Centrica. Well, “Earnings forecasts make Centrica a hot prospect” as Jefferies upgraded their recommendation to “buy” and floated the prospect of hefty increases to their earnings forecasts. Bit different to Tesla, but a financial alternative. Enjoy.
To prove you are not a robot please enter the following letters and numbers:
B-u-l-l-s-h-i-t 1234
Ha! Ha! Sherwulfe, well said! do you think he captcha’d that!
Which of these images shows two fingers?
So, Mr. Bartley, who is unable to become elected to Parliament “demands” Mr. Clark does what he wants!
Perhaps finding the 500k voters lost by the Greens at the last election would be a more constructive exercise, and would add some weight to such demands?
….you have had three failed attempts at entering your password; you are locked out for 24 hours….wishful thinking 🙂