Frack Off (Permanently?)

Fracking is the obtaining of 'natural gas' by forcing water, containing chemicals, into shale rock deposits. The fracking company, Cuadrilla, is now bitterly complaining about having to plug and abandon its two 'viable' shale wells in Lancashire (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/10/fracking-firm-cuadrilla-to-permanently-abandon-controversial-uk-sites). Regulators have ruled that fracking, on these two sites, cannot be carried out safely, without risking triggering earth tremors. Since Cuadrilla started their hotly-contested operations in the North of England, it has become apparent that fracking carries other risks. Fracking creates atmospheric and water-table pollution. In deed, people in the US who live near a fracking site also tend to die earlier than folk remote from such locations. England is generally much more densely populated, than US sites where fracking is occurring. Cuadrilla have tried to argue that their de facto ban is occurring "at a time when the UK is spending billions of pounds annually importing gas from all corners of the globe, and gas prices for hard-pressed UK households are rocketing". Experts have, however, rejected the claim that shale gas could help lower UK energy bills. Could it be that Cuadrilla is more concerned about their lost profits than for the fate of UK households? Fracking was never a great idea, when carbon dioxide and methane emissions have to be reduced to limit climate change!