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Cherwell or Fracking Well?

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EPA-Fracking-may-cause-groundwater-pollution-TMMF9OP-x-largeHydraulic Fracturing or ‘Fracking’ is a new unconventional and controversial technique for extracting gas and in some case oil from the deep bedrock.  It has serious environmental and quality of life issues for all of us, but particularly for those of us who live in areas that sit on top of these deposits.  Unfortunately for us, that included large areas of North Oxford and Cherwell.

Fracking has been sold as being the answer to the UK’s energy problems, but in areas like the USA where it’s been widely used, this has not been proved to be the case.  What has been shown is that it contaminates water supplies and creates huge amounts of noise and disruption for local residents.  It’s also been implicated as the cause land movements and in some cases actual earthquakes.  Indeed when the first test drill was sunk in the UK near Blackpool, they experienced one of the strongest earth tremors recorded in the area in decades.

The main process involves drilling large bore holes, often sideways underneath properties not owned by the drilling companies (as right that has now been granted to them by the government) and pumping a cocktail of water and up to 90 different chemicals, many of them highly toxic, into the ground under immense pressure.  This cracks the rock and releases trapped gas.  The water is then recycled back into the normal water system where it’s treated and used again.  That is apart from the water that leaks into local water courses and along with some of chemicals and the gas.

If you want to see how this process affects local people watch the film Gasland and Gasland 2, clips of which are available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZe1AeH0Qz8

Another main method is something called underground coal gasification, which involved drilling into coal seams and then setting them alight.  The controlled burn then generates coal gas which is extracted.  This process is often hard to control and becomes every bit as horrific as it sounds.  This is the type of extraction that we could see being used in areas like Bloxham which sits on large coal deposits.

A national pressure group has also been set up called ‘Frack Off’.  They recently released a short video that explains what we may see in our area if fracking is allowed to go ahead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYniYtJEeeI

government’s presumption against fracking in designated areas, such as national parks, goes to show that the Coalition recognises that hydraulic fracking will harm the environment and presents significant risks.

The Green Party calls on the government to offer all communities the same protection from dirty and dangerous fracking and shift energy policy focus instead towards clean, renewable energy sources and energy conservation.

The latest bidding process for licenses to extract shale gas from large parts of the UK is under way.  The government is also proposing to pay large amounts of money to local councils that support fracking, regardless of local residents wishes.

About half the UK is open to exploration, but tightened rules cover areas of outstanding beauty and large areas of Cherwell. The Green Party is the only mainstream political party fighting to stop fracking being pushed through by a government which consistently puts corporate profit over people.

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, said:

“While the Government has signalled an intention to ensure some protective measures, we can have little confidence in promises of a robust regulatory framework.

“We know fracking can cause water contamination and shortages, as well as air and soil pollution. And this is an industry that’s made a catalogue of errors already. But legitimate concerns over its very real environmental and health risks are falling on deaf ears.

“By seeking to lock us ever-more firmly into fossil fuel dependence the Government is turning a blind eye to reason. It’s crystal clear that we need to be shifting to clean, renewable energy sources.

“We need a rapid shift to a zero carbon economy and that is not going to happen by pouring resources into establishing an entirely new fossil fuel industry.”

As your MP I would fight tooth and nail to prevent our wonderful communities and countryside from being torn apart by this ‘bottom of the barrel’ technology.  The Green Party is the only major party standing up against these proposals and we need support of local communities to help us stop these wells from being set up before it’s too late.  Once the process is begun we may all live to regret the fact that we didn’t stand up to be counted when we had the chance.

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Why You Should Be Worried About TTIP

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normal_ttip-eu_usa_santa_claude_eThe Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a EU/USA treaty being negotiated in secret on our behalf. I believe it is one of the most serious threats we have ever faced.  Yet it’s a threat that many people haven’t even heard of.

This proposed agreement has implications on a national and global level, particularly the Investor-State Dispute Settlements clause which allows corporations and private companies to take legal action against governments if they pass laws that are regarded as restricting their ability to make profits.

This strikes directly at the heart of our democracy, whilst effectively handing over sovereignty of all signature countries to the whim Amongst other things, TTIP also has the potential to force this country to accept genetically modified organisms into our food supply.

It loosens banking regulations (as the more stringent US banking laws could be subject to the lighter laws in the UK) and it could threaten jobs as more companies will be able to base their operations in the USA where labour law, employee protection and health and safety are less strictly applied.

TTIP could also have very serious implication for the NHS in terms of the penetration of public services by private companies.  Indeed TTIP could very easily be used to prevent any future moves to stop the creeping privatisation of the NHS as this may be regarded as restrictive by corporations wanting a piece of the action.

Whilst the Conservatives, Labour and the Libdems have all stated an ambition to ensure the NHS is excluded from TTIP, we have seen no guarantees on this from any quarter.

Moreover the extremely secretive nature of the treaty and the way it is being negotiated on our behalf behind firmly closed doors, leads me to distrust the ability or even the will of some of our representatives to ensure such exclusions will be applied.

The fact that both Labour and the Conservatives have self evidently displayed an ambition to see large parts of the health service and social care hived off to private companies, amid a culture of marketisation and capitulation to private providers, leaves me with very little confidence in a positive outcome for our cherished NHS.

The Green Party is firmly committed to blocking TTIP where we are able to, and our MEPs have already expressed deep concern about what appears to be an unavoidable quiescence to this agreement.

You might like to read this article by Molly Scott Cato MEP, who was recently allowed into the inner sanctum where the treaty is being drafted. Although as you will see she was sworn to secrecy and was subject to extreme measures to prevent her from recording and/or reporting what she saw.   This alone sounds some very loud alarm bells with me! http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/04/secrets-ttip-corporations-not-citizens-transatlantic-trade-deal

If I were to be elected, I would most fervently resist the inclusion of the UK within the TTIP treaty and I would also demand that the secret negotiations now being held in Brussels should be openly and frankly reported.

Honest and open government is our only guarantee that those trusted to look after our interests do so diligently and effectively.

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Business Doesn’t Have To Be Bad

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Untitled-1As a businessperson, a long time retailer, and now a retail commentator and journalist, one of the most difficult things for me to reconcile is my involvement in the promotion of consumerism.

That’s at odds with my more recent conviction that we can’t continue to squander the world’s finite resources on WANTS, whilst ignoring the NEEDS of most of the planet’s population.

The Green Party might be seen by some as an anti-capitalist movement. We are however a broad church with many facets. I was encouraged to become a candidate BECAUSE of my business experience rather than in spite of it, and I saw that as an encouraging aspect.

I’ve run large companies, and I now run a small one. I’m probably something of a gamekeeper turned poacher. But I’ve seen both sides of this debate and come to realise that the idea of continual economic growth is indeed a myth. And one we have to stop believing before we run out of road.

I was at the launch of a new book by Naomi Klein a few months ago.  She makes some interesting points about the connections between environmental issues and the global economy.  The basic tenet is that when resources and commodities are monetised on the kinds of scale they are now, the result is economic and environmental catastrophe. And we’re just getting a taste of that.

The direct impacts are of course climate change, which if you ascribe to that view, is starting to bring with it the kinds of drastic changes in weather patterns that we’ve seen in recent years.

These are all things we’re having to come to terms with now and they’re all traceable to global economic activity. They affect all our lives, not just personally, but in broader human and economic terms.

I’m a vocal advocate of social enterprise, and believe that there are many big businesses out there that can be made to take a more ethical and responsible stance if we create the right conditions to encourage it.  And happily for me there is already a growing movement within the more enlightened areas of the business world towards ethical business and sustainable capitalism.

That might sound like some thing of an oxymoron, but in many sectors of business now there’s a realisation dawning that if we continue to squeeze the pips of the economy, we’ll eventually run out of juice.

Amidst calls from some people for a revolution against rampant capitalism, I see the future as more of an evolution towards a business ethos that views social justice and connection with local and national communities as an asset, rather than an inconvenience.  I’m certainly not anti-capitalist, but I am anti-unfettered capitalism. I agree that the market should be allowed to decide some things. But I believe the state has the job of holding us all to account for our actions and tempering the excesses of marketisation to prevent it working against the common good.

And it’s not just us greeny types taking up this mantra. Many key economists and business commentators are now having similar epiphanies about how business and consumption needs to be managed in a sustainable, responsible and accountable way, if we’re all going to avoid a backlash against the kinds of excesses and irresponsible business practices that became prevalent over the past 20 or 30 years.

Essentially businesses need to grow up and take responsibility for the societies we’ve helped to create.

I’ve recently become very interested in something now being called the circular economy, where consumption itself is fed back into the creation of new resources and products.  This doesn’t just encompass recycling, but also upcycling and renewable energy as part of the manufacturing process, along with emergent technologies, social media, and the fourth economy, comprising enterprises that not only make a profit for business owners, but also put something back into the social economy.

That might all sound a bit hippy and tree-huggy, but it’s something that’s being taken very seriously now by many key figures in the business world. Most notably Bill Gates and Richard Branson. And with good reason.

If you can make money with clean conscience, look after your employees, business partners, suppliers, and most importantly the planet AND enjoy what you’re doing, what’s not to like?

You also get to sleep pretty well at night too

So I hope I can convince you that there is scope within a Green World for enterprise and innovation. Without the need for a constantly growing economy and an ever greater consumption of the worlds finite resources.

With the potential for over a million green jobs out there, and an ethical economy that has only scratched the surface of an emerging market, there are plenty of opportunities for business leaders and entrepreneurs in a future Green and pleasant land.