By Vivienne Russell | 26 January 2015
A committee of MPs has called for a moratorium on fracking saying the risks it poses to public health are still unknown, while the activity simultaneously undermines national climate change targets.
The environmental audit committee’s report also calls for the Infrastructure Bill to be amended to remove companies’ automatic right to access land at depth and for the safety monitoring of fracking wells to be conducted independently rather than by the companies concerned.
Committee chair Joan Walley said: ‘Ultimately fracking cannot be compatible with our long-term commitments to cut climate changing emissions unless full-scale carbon capture and storage technology is rolled out rapidly, which currently looks unlikely.
‘There are also huge uncertainties around the impact that fracking could have on water supplies, air quality and public health.
‘We cannot allow Britain’s national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty to be developed into oil an gas fields. Even if a national moratorium in the UK is not accepted there should be an outrights band on fracking in such special sites.’
In the Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced that a ‘fracking fund' for the North of England would be created to all the region to invest in projects to stimulate economic growth.
