Energy security for Britain or a sell-off of our sacred soil?

MAYBE your reader Mr. Colin Seabrook MBE (Yorkshire Post, January 27), while bemoaning the proliferation of “soon-to-be-obsolete” wind turbines (which in anyone’s sane opinion should be placed off-shore instead of in our fragile countryside), would like to consider the alternative that may be responsible for such obsolescence: fracking.

Much as to I would love to join the merry band of anti-environmentalists lauding the forthcoming threat of the implementation of such technology, the fact remains that fracking has still not been proved not to cause seismic activity. Earthquakes, that is. And yet, alongside David Cameron’s aggressive push for fracking, the government is seriously planning to throw even more of its corporate weight around by building a new nuclear power station in Hinkley Point, Somerset. So may I suggest Mr Seabrook and his ilk go and live in Japan, whence radio-active fallout has already reached the West Coast of America with devastating effects on sea life from Alaska to California, but where at least he won’t have to complain about our wind turbines?

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield.

THE current government seems very keen to litter our beautiful countryside with ugly, inefficient wind turbines and risk damaging our water supply by fracking for shale gas and at the same time ignores millions of tonnes of coal beneath our feet which, with modern technology, could be converted to clean energy.

Why? Because the “greens” shout loudest and are listened to by our leaders. France and Germany ban fracking and yet we allow a French company to build a nuclear power station and go fracking on our sacred soil.

From: Barrie Frost, Watson’s Lane, Reighton, Filey.

ENERGY supplies are the life blood of a nation and the more of it which can be home produced the happier the nation is.

Britain’s security and rights are ensured by our Armed Forces and, together with energy independence, our well being would be ensured. But, we have relinquished the energy independence we once had and have allowed foreign countries to take control. It would be unthinkable to hand similar control to foreign powers of our military, indeed even raising the matter would be treasonable, so why have we done exactly this with our energy requirements?

From: Ross Taggart, Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees.

THE anti-fracking brigade quote a lot of facts in their support that turn out not to be facts at all. In one instance though they are quite correct: France has indeed banned fracking within their country and is trying to get an EU-wide ban. Why? Because they haven’t got any shale gas to frack for, that’s why.

Moreover, having metaphorically bet their house on building a huge number of nuclear power generating plants, they don’t want us to have any shale gas either! Why?

Because when our coal-fired plants become scrap and we are reliant on the daft windmills, they reckoned on us having no choice but to go to them, cap in hand, to buy their electricity at whatever price they choose to demand; an eye-watering price one could safely surmise.

The most ardent anti-fracker could hardly claim the French are taking a principled stand, when their state oil company is hedging bets by buying into our gas fields!

It is perhaps a tad optimistic to say that this bankrupt country of ours has been handed a “get out of jail” card.

However, one can almost hear the gnashing of teeth in Paris (not to mention Edinburgh). Just watch out for more scare stories, promulgated by the naïve with the encouragement of the cynical, because there will be plenty. One thing is for sure, we can rely on the (anti) British Broadcasting Corporation to support the French interests.

Incidentally, could we not all be helped in paying our energy bills by the abolition of the TV licence fee?