Anti-fracking climate activists from Reclaim the Power blocking a gate to Leapers Wood quarry, March 27th 2017 near Lancaster, United Kingdom. Credit: Kristian Buus
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is an extreme form of dirty energy extraction in a world dominated by dirty energy extraction. The earth’s resources are rare and fracking represents a final attempt to draw out fossil fuels from the ground. The effects of fracking a far reaching, include air pollution, defacing areas of natural beauty and heritage, and a climate catastrophe: unconventional gas and oil add to the earth’s store of unburnable carbon. Communities with fracking on their doorstep have faced water contamination, as well as dealing with the huge amounts of waste chemicals being produced. Shale gas has been deemed a greater harm than burning coal.
Anti-fracking in Britain: Break the chain
Fracking in Britain is highly speculative and dependent on investment and infrastructure. To target this infrastructure Reclaim the Power have organised Break the Chain, two weeks of direct action against the fracking supply chain. In the first week activists shut down a quarry supplying aggregate to the controversial Preston New Road drilling site, covered the city of Leeds with subvertising and held a fracking party in Centrica’s head offices – whose CEO has recently received a £1.4m ‘frackers’ bonus. They finished the week by targeting AE Yates, one of the main contractors for the Preston New Road drilling site, and bared all at the UK Investor Conference to highlight Union Jack Oil’s link to the industry. Week 2 kicked off on Tuesday as three women dressed as wedding brides blockaded the doorway of city-based fracking PR firm St Brides Partners, who represent Europa Oil and Gas PLC, a company that has been attempting to drill near Brockham in Surrey since 2009.
