In the Midst of a Massive Avoidable Energy Crisis, the UK Government Intends to Pour Millions of Tons of Concrete Down Usable Fracking Wells
You might be forgiven for thinking either that the British government has gone stark raving bonkers or it has decided to sabotage the economy. Those are the only two rational explanations I can think of to explain the behaviour of our government, and they may not be mutually exclusive. I actually found it hard to believe this tweet by Steve Baker, but this is what ministers are actually planning.
The Sun has the story:
ANGRY Tory MPs have blasted a minister’s claims that two UK fracking sites have reached “the end of their useful life”.
Energy giant Cuadrilla is due to concrete over its two wells in Lancashire next week.
It has been ordered to do so by the Oil and Gas Authority in a ban on the gas extraction technique.
But MPs want that decision overturned and fracking to be given the green light again.
Absurdly, Greg Hands is claiming that these wells are being capped because they are 'at the end of their useful life' but the truth is they hardly even began to exploit their useful reserves before the fracking ban was introduced.
Energy minister Greg Hands told MPs late last week: “Gas wells need to be safely decommissioned at the end of their useful life.”
But Steve Baker hit back: “The minister’s suggestion that these wells are at the end of their useful life is outrageous. They are nowhere near the end of their useful life.
So, another massive lie by a government minister.
Why is the government rushing to decommission these wells which have the potential to re-energise the UK in the midst of this crisis and bring down energy bills for consumers and industry? Why? To my way of thinking, it is an act of economic sabotage and treason no less. Not even 'away with the fairies high on batshit crazy green ideology' adequately explains this decision. If it does go ahead, and the protests of Tory MPs are ignored, British interests will be very seriously damaged and consumers will pay a very heavy price for this deliberate policy of putting beyond use our natural gas reserves precisely at a time of acute energy crisis, perhaps the worst in history.
This government will then have two deliberate acts of economic sabotage under its belt: lockdowns and the scuttling of our gas reserves. We might want to ask ourselves in that case whether Putin is the greater threat to national security or own government is.