Britse regering geeft na 2 jaar eindelijk rapport vrij over Britse schalie-olie- en schaliegaswinning

Na 2 jaar de zaak te hebben tegengehouden heeft de Britse regering eindelijk een geheim rapport over schaliegas- en oliewinning 'vrijgegeven....' Dat laatste tussen aanhalingstekens daar het grootste deel van het rapport onleesbaar is gemaakt door diezelfde Britse regering, ronduit een schandaal en het zet bovendien nog eens extra vraagtekens bij de mate van democratie die de Britten 'genieten......'

Ronduit onbeschoft zoals het geteisem in Londen omgaat met haar burgers, immers de schaliegas- en oliewinning kent net als de aardgaswinning slachtoffers, bovendien wordt met deze vorm van winning (van fossiele 'brandstof'), hele gebieden vervuild, evenals het grondwater........ Waar deze winningen hebben plaatsgevonden, blijft een maanlandschap achter...... 

Voorts moeten chemicaliën ten behoeve van het fracken worden afgevoerd en dat betekent in de praktijk, zoals in de VS gebeurt, dat men het vervuilde water 'gewoon' laat weglopen in rivieren of zeeën en het zou me niet eens verbazen als men het ter plekke gewoon de bodem in laat verdwijnen..... Als deze afvalstoffen netjes vernietigd zouden moeten worden, zou alleen daarmee de prijs van schaliegas al fiks stijgen..... Daarover gesproken: er gaat een enorme bak subsidie naar de oliemaatschappijen die deze manier van winning in de VS en GB gebruiken.... Het laten weglopen van de troep richt veel schade aan, schade die amper is te herstellen, terwijl de gevolgen van deze schade in de nabije toekomst een enorme bak belastinggeld zal kosten.......

Verder komen bij het fracken grote hoeveelheden methaangas vrij, gas behorend tot de sterkste broeikasgassen op onze aarde en is een veel sterkere aanjager van de klimaatverandering dan CO2, daarmee is fracken een extra aanjager van die verandering in temperatuur..... (de kosten om de gevolgen van de klimaatverandering tegen te gaan en de schade te herstellen die ermee gepaard gaat, zijn al helemaal niet te berekenen.....)

Schaliegas- en oliewinning zou als men alle milieuregels zou handhaven, veel te duur zijn... Ach gelul, deze uitermate vervuilende methode van winning is een gevaar voor mens, dier en natuur, dus gewoon niet doen, beter nog: verbieden!

Lees het volgende artikel van Jasmine en dat werd geplaatst op Unearthed (Greenpeace) en zie de arrogantie van de machthebbers..... Dit rapport zou voldoende moeten zijn om een regering te laten vallen en als dat niet gebeurt zou de kiezer de Tory Party moeten afstraffen..... Helaas werkt het niet zo, de BBC maakt vooral veel reclame voor de regering en gevaarlijke gekken als Boris Johnson en Nigel Farage, die het volk vertellen dat de klimaatverandering een sprookje is en dat we vooral alles uit de bodem moeten slepen om te verbranden.......

Overigens is het bij ons niet veel beter, zie wat hufter Menno Snel van D66 heeft geflikt met de schunnige terugvordering van kosten voor de kinderopvang door de Belastingdienst en dan zo onbeschoft zijn te blijven zitten*, de 'vent' zou zich de oren van de kop moeten schamen!!! (terwijl de klokkenluider van de Belastingdienst die e.e.a. aan het licht bracht op non-actief is gesteld....)

Government finally releases secret fracking report

The still-censored document reveals details of huge Whitehall effort to support development of shale gas industry in the UK

The Cabinet Office has finally released its – still heavily redacted – secret report on the fracking industry, following a 22-month Freedom of Information battle with Unearthed.

The document – produced by the Cabinet Office in 2016 but never published – confirms government and industry players were privately downbeat about the prospects for a UK shale boom, even as they talked up the sector’s potential.

Unearthed first discovered the existence of the report in early 2018, but its information request was rejected because the government claimed it “could call into question the industry’s viability.” 

Following a hearing in July this year, the information tribunal ordered the government to release key extracts of the report. The government failed to comply with the order to publish on 25 November, but finally released the report late on Friday afternoon. 

Though sections of the document have been unredacted, it remains heavily censored.

Jon Trickett, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, told Unearthed: “This report clearly shows that the Tories have bent over backwards to serve the interests of big business, especially the oil and gas industry.

“The Conservatives have taken money from oil executives, trashed the rights of communities and enabled fracking companies to threaten their local environment.

“The fact they have tried to cover this up by redacting pages of critical information – like with their talks with the US over selling off parts of our NHS – further illustrates this Government’s contempt for the public.”

He added that a Labour government would ban fracking, expand the Freedom of Information act, and “introduce tough new transparency rules”.

The Conservative Party failed to respond to requests for comment.

(For PDF of this report see original article - you should rotate the page, if you use a laptop or other computer)

Ken Cronin, chief executive of trade group UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG), said: “This 2016 report reveals no new information of interest. It is true that shale gas development in the UK has progressed at a steady pace, although this is commensurate with the exploratory and highly regulated nature of the industry. 

“Since this report was [produced], the first hydraulic fracturing since 2011 has taken place, several sites have been constructed and tested across North Nottinghamshire and multiple planning applications have been submitted for further exploratory work across Derbyshire and Lancashire.

“As with any industry that involves development, our progress has been slowed by the local planning system. This is not a unique problem to shale within the energy sector. Onshore wind and solar have met with comparable delays where applications have been filed.”

The report’s release comes as the government has placed a pause on fracking, though activists fear the moratorium could be lifted by a Conservative government after the election.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said the moratorium would remain in effect until “new compelling evidence is provided” regarding the serious seismic incidents drilling has triggered in the north of England.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was unable to comment due to pre-election ‘purdah’.

‘Pro-shale narratives’

The Cabinet Office’s report, which is based on interviews with 28 industry stakeholders, identifies “low public acceptance of shale” as the primary barrier to the industry’s progress.

This is described in the report as “public opposition driven by concerns re: local quality of life and safety, environmental protection, crowding out of renewables.”

Rather than address these concerns, however, the officials appeared to regard them as a communications problem.

The report notes that the now-defunct Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was “already undertaking crucial work on communications to increase public acceptability of shale” such as the “development of pro-shale national/regional narrative” and “shale champions.”

Messages from companies were even fed into the government’s “longer term national communications efforts”.

This public opposition, the report claims, led to “a set of more practical ‘symptom’ barriers” that the Cabinet Office deliberated on how to lift.

Industry lobbying

It said: “Operators highlight that the most significant barriers by far are the long decision timelines and uncertainty experienced in local planning system.”

“Current and future operators stress that they will only bring forward large sites if current long planning times and perceived uncertainty is reduced – ie unless this can be resolved, UK shale will not take off even if geology proven.”

In response, the report discusses a range of possible measures to smooth and speed-up the permitting process for would-be frackers, including:

• improving “incentives to process application[s] in [the] 16 week statutory timeframe”. 
• possibly “moving shale from local planning into national planning regime”  
• reviewing “scope for accelerating planned DECC work on developing options for the settlement of shale long-term liabilities, to prevent this becoming a potential source of further delays in the local planning system in the future” 
• pressuring independent regulator the Environment Agency to speed up permitting process “without increasing risk of judicial review.”
• exploring ways to make public consultations and the planning process “more predictable,” including receiving advice on whether they can “time out” statutory consultees who are late in submitting input and even “reducing resources [for local authorities] invested to request additional information from industry.”

Questions over viability

Unearthed’s discovery of the report nearly 2 years ago related to government’s internal projections for the the growth of UK fracking, which turned out to be far more conservative than the vast number of wells and wealth the industry had predicted.

There is much in the Cabinet Office’s report that indicates government and industry players understood these growth forecasts could well be overblown, and the long-term viability of UK fracking remained unproven.

“The development of the UK shale industry over the next 5-10 years is subject to great uncertainty – most importantly because the viability of the UK shale reserves is not yet proven,” the report states.

It goes on to reference interviews with operators and industry experts that “suggest that the industry could close down quickly if early sites are unsuccessful. Developments in the next 5-10 years are therefore crucial to establish long-term viability of the industry.”

The extent of the detail provided in the report is that government expected 5-10 horizontal wells could by fracking by 2020, “with a realistic expectation being significantly closer to 5 than 20.”

With less than a month to go before 2020, we now know that even the government’s “realistic expectation” was excessively optimistic. There are currently no fracking sites producing gas in the UK, and the government has announced that it will not support future projects.   

A far cry from the 4,000 wells by 2032 forecast in 2014, which still underpins industry projections 6 years later.

Unearthed

✔@UE

Here's the government's secret fracking report we've been fighting nearly 2 years for (wait for the punchline) http://bit.ly/34JJqdM

105  13:23 - 3 Dec 2019

(voor de video in dit Twitterbericht, zie origineel)

Redactions remain

The revelations scattered through the report, however, should not distract from the fact that the Cabinet Office’s report remains heavily redacted.

37 of the 48 pages are fully censored and many of the others contain significant redactions.

The ‘background’ page is effectively free to read and so to are major extracts of the executive summary, and the occasional line from the report’s body.

===========================================
* Zie: 'Menno Snel (staatssecretaris D66) overleeft zonder enig ethisch besef debat over toeslag kinderopvang'

Zie ook:
'Milieugroepen buitengesloten van klimaattop Madrid'

'Het grootste olieveld ter wereld: niet in Saoedi-Arabië maar in de VS >> het Permian-bekken'

'Britse banken steunen kolenverbranding met 25 miljard pond'

'Klimaattop Madrid: de grote vervuilers hebben veel te veel invloed'

'Frans Timmermans (PvdA Europese Commissie) op de valsgroene tour'

'Frans Timmermans (PvdA, Europese Commissie) wakker geschrokken: wil geheel hypocriet belasting op kerosine'

'Klimaattop Madrid bij voorbaat mislukt'

'Shell en Exxon die ondanks eigen onderzoek niets hebben ondernomen tegen klimaatverandering, willen met subsidie CO2 opslaan in lege gasvelden'

'IETA, lobbygroep van oliemaatschappijen en andere grote vervuilers, manipuleert klimaattoppen'

'Shell houdt zich niet aan het klimaatakkoord: 8 bewijzen'

'Rutte 3 heeft gelogen over subsidies: jaarlijks 2,5 miljard euro belastinggeld naar olie, kolen en gas'

'Bas Eickhout ('GroenLinks' EU) was vanuit Bonn wel tevreden over het Rutte 3 regeerakkoord..........' (dezelfde Eickhout die als grofgraaier in de EU stemde voor het langer toestaan van het kankerverwekkende gif glyfosaat, onderdeel van Roundup.....)

'Uniper (energiebedrijf van Finse staat) bezig met rechtszaak tegen Nederlandse staat voor sluiten kolencentrales'

'Exxon in VS onder vuur vanwege de al decennialang voorradige kennis over de menselijke hand in de klimaatverandering'

'Universiteit van Cambridge overstag: 6 miljoen pond voor onderzoek naar oliewinning t.b.v. Shell'

'Amazonegebied in brand, Black Rock verdient daar vele miljoenen mee' 

'Kees Verhoeven (D66 2de Kamer) wil een grote EU, maar 'alleen op de grote onderwerpen...' ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

'Klaas Valkering (CDJA en 'hip haar'): het CDA heeft een eigen duurzaam beleid....... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

'PvdA, CDA en VVD willen zich niet bij het klimaatakkoord van Parijs neerleggen!!!!'

Monsanto (Bayer) lobbyisten hebben EU politici bewerkt >> kankerverwekkend glyfosaat nog jaren toegestaan in (corrupte) EU

In het hieronder opgenomen artikel geschreven door Zach Boren en Arthur Neslen op Unearthed, een 'onafhankelijk' journalistiek forum dat 'wordt gefinancierd door Greenpeace donateurs' (behoorlijk vaag, kortom een project van Greenpeace, maar goed...), aandacht voor de totstandkoming in het EU parlement van de verlenging van de vergunning voor het levensgevaarlijke gif glyfosaat, onderdeel van Roundup t.b.v. de landbouw (dus ook voor tuinders) en dat met een periode van 5 jaar........

Ongelofelijk weer dat men in de EU zo speelt met mensenlevens en smerige gifmengers als Bayer, sinds kort de eigenaar van Monsanto, door laat gaan met het vergiftigen van de EU consumenten en het verder laten uitsterven van insecten (de laatste 30 jaar met 75%!! Insecten waaronder de grote bestuivers als bijen, zonder wie de mens het kan vergeten.....)...... 

Benieuwd hoeveel geld er is uitgeloofd door Bayer/Monsanto voor deze beslissing, geld waar men nog even af moet blijven, totdat men een paar jaar uit de politiek is........ (hoewel een dik betaalde baan ook tot de mogelijkheden behoort)

Het geteisem dat hier voor heeft gestemd in de EU (o.a. 'GroenLinks' hufter Bas Eickhout), zou samen met de fabrikant strafrechtelijk moeten worden vervolgd..........

How lobbyists for Monsanto led a ‘grassroots farmers’ movement against an EU glyphosate ban

Irish PR firm Red Flag effectively mobilised farmers in its 'freedom to farm' campaign

Monsanto was bought by German agrochemical company Bayer earlier this year. Photo: Adam Berry/Getty Images

Irish PR firm Red Flag effectively mobilised farmers in its 'freedom to farm' campaign

17.10.2018 Zach Boren and Arthur Neslen

American agrochemical giant Monsanto paid a public-affairs consultancy up to €200,000 to set up a ‘grassroots farmers’ operation across Europe to oppose a prospective EU ban on glyphosate, Unearthed has learned.

Glyphosate is a key ingredient in Monsanto’s signature Roundup weedkiller.

Dublin-based political firm Red Flag Consulting led the pro-glyphosate campaign, quietly launching a wide-reaching PR drive and enlisting the support of thousands of farmers from stands at agricultural fairs in “the eight most important EU countries.”

In contemporaneous reviews seen by Unearthed, sales representatives working at the booths said that their job involved distributing “truth-clarification materials” about glyphosate, and gathering contact information and signatures.

In recent promotional literature Red Flag describes how it “won the single-biggest regulatory and public affairs campaign in the European Union,” using “non-traditional allies” in an attempt to change the positions of eight countries in the EU.

“Red Flag leveraged these efforts on identified targets through media and direct engagement to ultimately change votes in a key committee in Brussels to bring about a win for our client,” one brochure says. The firm did not confirm whether these claims referred to its work on glyphosate.

The firm’s campaign was run in tandem with a US consultancy, Lincoln Strategy, that worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

While Monsanto mostly uses Fleishman Hillard for its PR work in Brussels, Unearthed has established that they accepted an approach from Red Flag to orchestrate the influence drive, which was run at arm’s length from the firm.

Red Flag’s other big spending clients include US biotech company Anitox, which has been described as “extremely active” in its support of glyphosate in the EU, and British American Tobacco (BAT), according to the EU transparency register.

“Monsanto must have been desperate to use these methods,” Green Belgium MEP Bart Staes told Unearthed.

“It really is a scandal. Sadly, this is fully in line with Monsanto’s behaviour throughout the whole glyphosate [relicensing] campaign.”

A spokesperson for Monsanto confirmed to Unearthed that it –  along with a ”coalition of users and manufacturers of glyphosate and other plant protection products” – supported the Red Flag project.

“Thousands of farmers across Europe have supported this initiative and made their voices heard in support of maintaining access to this vital for modern and sustainable agriculture,” the spokesperson added.

Credit: Agriculture et Liberte

Agriculture et Liberte

Red Flag’s contribution to the campaign involved setting up entities such as Agriculture et Liberte in France, described by industry insiders as “a grassroots farming coalition.”

The firm’s CEO, Karl Brophy, said this was not a lobbying exercise.

Instead he told Unearthed Red Flag provided “factual information about the science on glyphosate” to farmers and other individuals who “elected to be educated” and who then “made their concerns known in their own voices and by their own volition.”

Reference to Agriculture et Liberte’s industry support can be found in a bulletin point at the bottom of their website.

But there is no mention of Red Flag – or its industry funding – on the group’s twitter account, which describes itself as “a group of French farmers who have come together to protect our way of life and livelihoods,” nor in its press coverage.

Unearthed has identified similar entities in six other EU countries that appear to be the localised branding in Red Flag’s ‘freedom to farm’ campaign. 

It includes the names Free to Farm in the UK, Liberta di coltivare in Italy, Raum für Landwirtschaft in Germany, Libertad para consultar in Spain, Rolnictwo Dobrej Praktyki in Poland* and Vrijheid om te Boeren in the Netherlands**.

These outfits – which are often registered to Red Flag’s Dublin address and an email account belonging to a Lincoln Strategy staffer – have appeared or are due to appear at 33 events since the start of 2017.

Brophy told Unearthed he does “not recognise a number of the groups you appear to be referring to,” but declined to elaborate. There had been no attempt to conceal the involvement of Red Flag or Lincoln Strategy, he said.

“Monsanto wants it to appear as though farmers are independently speaking out to support continued use of this chemical, when in reality these ‘farmer’ groups are actually little more than pawns in a public relations campaign drawn up by its hired spin agents,” said Carey Gillam, investigative journalist and author of Whitewash, which details Monsanto’s history and the rise of glyphosate herbicides.

“It has used these tactics in countries around the world to try to sway public opinion in support of its products, to downplay risks to human health and the environment, and to pressure and harass scientists and lawmakers who Monsanto perceives as a threat. It is well past time that these secrets are exposed.”

Red Flag ran the campaigns with assistance from Lincoln Strategy, whose northern Europe director Daisy Odabasi was quoted as representing Agriculture et Liberte in one newspaper article.

Unlike Red Flag, Lincoln does not have an EU transparency listing. Lincoln’s staff email accounts were used in Red Flag’s campaign as part of its role “providing logistical and operational support to the project.”

A Lincoln spokesperson said all of the firm’s campaigns – including its work in support of clean coal –  “rely solely on sharing information with genuine citizens and encouraging them to make their voices heard on topics that are important to them.”

Credit: Agriculture et Liberte

Health concerns

The effects of glyphosate on farmers and gardeners who come into contact with it have been contentious ever since the World Health Organisation’s agency on cancer labelled the substance “probably carcinogenic” in 2015.

In August, a US court ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a groundskeeper who claimed he contracted Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma from using Roundup, a landmark decision that could trigger an avalanche of similar verdicts in further cases.

Health concerns were at the heart of the EU’s apparent reticence to reauthorise glyphosate, although reports from regulatory agencies claimed that the chemical was safe.

Ultimately while the pesticides industry did not succeed in renewing glyphosate’s 15-year license in Europe – it was cut down to five years – a complete ban was averted.

In a lengthy statement supplied to UK news outlet The Independent, Brophy said:

“Red Flag is an agency with a number of clients in the food and agriculture sectors and a wide network of contacts in the agricultural community. We worked to bring a number of our clients and contacts together in order to help those people who would be most affected by a potential glyphosate ban – the  farmers who produce Europe’s food.”

“We are grateful to several clients for supporting the project.  But it was the farmers who stood to lose most if an activist-led campaign to ban glyphosate – flying in the face of science, the position of all relevant EU regulatory agencies and the position of the European Commission – was successful.  And it was the farmers who responded to the threat.

“Last November, a very large majority of European Union countries voted to re-authorise glyphosate. We’re proud to have played a small part in providing the information that was used by many committed individuals to stand up for their livelihoods, their communities and for the future of Europe’s food supply.”

* A previous version said the Polish campaign’s name was ‘Wolsnosc Dla Farm’

** De schrijvers vergissen zich volgens mij, het gaat hier niet om de naam van  organisaties, maar om de naam die de petitie kreeg voor het behoud van het kankerverwekkende glyfosaat.... In Nederland wordt deze petitie door Boerderij.nl gevoerd onder de naam 'Vrijheid om te Boeren' ('vrijheid' om de consument, de insecten en de aarde in haar geheel te vergiftigen met kankerverwekkende troep)...... Zie wat dit betreft ook de noot van de Unearthed schrijvers hier direct boven.