Protesters with inexhaustible energy for misplaced outrage

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

OVER many years, protests have been made against new schemes to secure Britain’s future energy requirements.

Recently, a train carrying coal to Drax power station was stopped by protesters. More recently there have been protests about the drilling for gas, the exploration for oil and now the possibility of fracking for gas.

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Britain has already abandoned three billion tonnes of our coal reserves together with unknown millions of pounds in mining equipment underground, but we still won’t learn.

The protesters give me the impression of being “professional protesters” ever willing to embrace the next cause, whatever this may be. Do they realise that Britain’s energy reserves are seriously depleted with real doubts that they may run out in the very near future?

We cannot depend on their idealistic images of renewables with thousands of wind turbines to provide our needs. Are they fully aware of the successful fracking operations in America which has transformed their energy policies and is giving their industries a hugely competitive edge over all those who are unwilling to embrace new methods of acquiring energy?

The majority of the protesters do not appear to belong to the wealthy elite classes, but are able to have considerable time off work, obviously having very accommodating employers who allow this absence from their workplace.

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If all the schemes they protest against were magically abandoned, what would be the resulting energy situation? Renewable energy supplies cannot meet the country’s demands from both domestic users and industry and would, inevitably, mean the rationing of energy of some kind. If this occurs thousands of dirty diesel generators are already installed to be used in such a situation to address this shortfall, with the electricity they produce being bought by the National Grid at far higher prices than current levels, costs which would, of course, be passed on to us, the consumers.

Additional pollution emitted by these generators would totally negate all previous “green” energy savings.

From: Andrew Suter, Station Road, Ampleforth, York.

I REFER to the debate on fracking and the ongoing problems with the test site at Balcombe in West Sussex, and the apparent lack of policing giving way to for want of a better phrase to “rent a mob” (Yorkshire Post, August 17).

The previous Labour government remained in a state of inertia for its entire period, avoiding anything to do with building new power stations, nor having anything to do with nuclear, gas or coal energies, not wishing to upset the green lobby.

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The lunatics have been running the asylum for too long and the current government must show leadership and bear down on these individuals which, in reality, are a small minority. Perhaps one way to display leadership and foil these protesters would be to have numerous test sites running at the same time throughout the country. I would imagine 200 operating simultaneously should do the trick.