Vivienne Westwood speaks out against fracking

Vivienne Westwood proves that citizenship is ageless: The 70-year-old fashion designer of 2014 led a march of 180 demonstrators who marched with her through the streets of London on March 19 to call for a halt to fracking.

Fracking is called the method of hydraulic fracturing of the formation in the extraction of shale gas, gas of compacted sandstones and the development of methanocarbon formations. Under the ground to a great depth under very high pressure, a mixture of water, caustic acids and other chemicals is pumped, as a result of which the rock is destroyed, releasing the gas contained in it.

Conservationists oppose fracking because the side effects are dangerous, and this is no longer an assumption, but a proven fact. This technology not only provokes earthquakes, but leads to a large-scale environmental disaster, as it poisons groundwater and soil.

For example, in Pennsylvania and Texas, where fracking has become fashionable, the water flowing from the tap can simply be set on fire. “The amount of methane in the water is potentially explosive and fire-prone. Inhaling benzene can lead to cancer and anemia. Hundreds of times exceeded the standards for strontium, arsenic and mercury. Water is dangerous to use, the Environmental Protection Agency said.



In most European countries, hydraulic fracturing technology is already banned in a number of European countries – France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. Actively advocate the rejection of fracking residents of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Britain, USA, Italy, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia and many other powers ...

Britain, too, understands what it is dealing with, but the government has not yet deigned to listen to citizens’ opinions. Although a moratorium on shale gas development was imposed in the UK in the summer of 2011 (after an earthquake occurred in the Quadrill area in the north-west of England), on March 19, 2014, at a gas forum, the authorities announced that by the summer of next year, licenses for fracking gas production on an area of 100,000 square kilometers would be sold.

The United Kingdom has sufficiently large reserves of shale gas, which will allow for the next century to fully meet the needs of the national economy in energy resources. The new developments will bring a decent income to the British treasury, as each well will cost about £100,000, regardless of whether it contains gas. By 2020, shale gas production should reach 8.64 trillion cubic meters. Energy Secretary Michael Fallon said that fracking is a great prospect that can ensure the development of the energy industry and provide many people with jobs. The government plans to issue 150 new licenses and create between 16,000 and 32,000 jobs in the future.



Is there any logic in this decision? Perhaps politicians have completely forgotten how to count, or run the country, sitting in a tank? First, it is high time to organize a mass transition to alternative sources of energy – the energy of nature, free and completely safe. Secondly, what’s the point of fracking revenues if you have to spend much more to eliminate its consequences? It is also worth taking into account the growth of medical costs, the elimination of the consequences of earthquakes, the refusal of a number of countries from British food imports, etc.

Finally, increased seismic activity, combined with rising sea levels, could turn Britain into a new Atlantis – before gas reserves run out. Fresh memories of last winter, when one flood was replaced by another. That is why British activists are demanding that the government focus on alternative energy and energy savings, rather than embarking on adventurous projects whose consequences could be catastrophic for our and future generations.

Vivienne Westwood, who joined the demonstration, has long been known for her environmental and political activism: in the past, she has participated in campaigns against tropical deforestation, global warming and nuclear weapons. “The fight against fracking is one of the most important battles the British have ever fought,” she told the press. This is the first battle in the war against climate change, and we will win this war.

Source: facepla.net