UK councils invest £9bn of pension funds in fracking companies – new research
Data released today suggests that UK councils have invested more than £9 billion from staff pension funds in fracking companies, despite opposition to the process.
Campaigners calls for ban on acid stimulation of onshore oil and gas wells
Friends of the Earth has called for a ban on the use of acid to stimulate the flow of oil and gas in onshore wells.
Most Tory councillors oppose government changes to shale gas planning rules – survey
A survey out today has found that 80% of Conservative councillors in areas where fracking companies have a licence to explore for shale gas believe that planning applications should be required before drilling.
Cuadrilla granted fracking consent for UK’s first horizontal shale gas well
The government has granted final consent for fracking at the UK’s first horizontal shale gas well at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site in Lancashire.
Local authorities are best placed to decide on fracking plans – MPs report
Moving decisions on fracking plans to a national level contradicts the principles of localism and would probably exacerbate mistrust between communities and the industry, MPs said today.
Slow walking protests are “unreasonable and wrongful”, oil company tells High Court
The exploration company, UK Oil and Gas, has defended its injunction which seeks to outlaw the protest tactic of slow walking.
Leading Greens back women challenging UKOG protest injunction
Attempts to clamp down on peaceful protests are sinister and very dangerous, the co-leader of the Green Party said this lunchtime.
Campaign group seeks to join women’s legal challenge to protest injunction
The environmental organisation, Friends of the Earth, is seeking permission to oppose an injunction against protests outside oil drilling sites in southern England.
Live news updates: Day 5 of inquiry into Ineos shale gas plans for Marsh Lane
This post has live updates from the beginning of the second week of the public inquiry into plans by Ineos for shale gas exploration in the Derbyshire village of Marsh Lane. Today’s session will hear from the headteacher at the school in Marsh Lane near the site, along […]
Cuadrilla’s fracking protest injunction would have “serious chilling effect” on lawful opposition, say campaigners
Friends of the Earth has warned that an injunction against anti-fracking protests at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site could prevent peaceful lawful opposition.
DRILL OR DROP? 