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Fracking and the Food System

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WaterFood

FoodandWaterEuropeFrackingFoodThe oil and gas industry likes to promote fracking as a boon to farmers and rural communities, but the dream often turns into a nightmare. In the United States, fracking has polluted water wells, sickened people and livestock, and reduced available farmland — proving that fracking and a healthy food system are not compatible.

As seen in the United States, the rapid expansion of oil and gas fracking has created significant environmental and public health problems.

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Many of these problems are inherent to the practice and cannot be avoided through regulation, which is why fracking should be banned.

Find out more about why we need to:

  • Move past the false promises of the oil and gas industry
  • Invest in economic development in rural communities that safeguards our food and water
  • Develop policies that allow farmers to make a fair living farming on their land, rather than resorting to leasing their farms for polluting energy production.

Broken Promises, Light Touch Regulation – UK Fracking Policy a Failure

Brussels, 14 December 2015 – The UK Government’s stated goal “to assure the public that the shale industry is being taken forward in a measured and reasonable manner” is a failure, according to a consultation response submitted by Food & Water Europe today.

“The disconnect between the Government’s sunny promises and its actions is glaring, and people can tell when they’re being sold a pup,” said the organisation’s EU Policy Advisor Eve Mitchell. “They break promises, sideline Parliament, and all the while the Government keeps saying, ‘Trust us.'”

The Government is consulting on proposals to restrict fracking from wells “drilled at the surface in specified protected areas”, appearing to portray the impacts of fracking as confined or containable. Yet water contamination, for example, can happen deep underground long distances from the well heads, due in no small part to modelling that is not sophisticated enough to reliably predict what will happen when huge pressures and temperatures are forced into complex natural systems.

“Clearly, National Parks are no place for fracking, but that’s not the point,” said Mitchell. “For a start, new rules mean protected areas can be ringed by wells fracking from below. Damage is inevitable, unpredictable and uncontrollable. Well placement, while important, can’t fix that. People won’t somehow be convinced that fracking can be safe just because the Government says so when they’ve already broken big promises.”

In January, the Cameron-led Government made an unequivocal “public commitment to an outright ban on fracking in National Parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty”, raising public expectation that a ban would mean a ban. Yet, since then:

  • The Government moved to renege on its promised fracking ban in SSSIs and raised disquiet by going through Committee (avoiding Parliamentary debate) to permit fracking non-vertically under protected areas.
  • The Government announced that local planning authorities must fast-track fracking applications, and the Government can now decide (over the heads of local people) in any appeals companies lodge.
  • The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced that Cuadrilla’s controversial application in Lancashire for the UK’s biggest fracking project to date would be the first appeal decided this way. Cuadrilla’s fracking in Lancashire was halted in 2011 by earthquakes the company admits it caused.

Mitchell added, “Far from reassuring the public, this kind of thing reminds everyone that promises can be broken and regulations can be altered if the ‘burden’ on business is deemed too high. This is too important to get wrong, it’s dangerous economically and environmentally, and the Government isn’t even being strict about liability when things go wrong. While the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Governments begin to apply the brakes, England will be left to bear the brunt of the UK Government’s ambitions for fracking. We’ll all feel the effects if we don’t stop it.”

“The dislocation of UK Government policy is clear to the whole world thanks to the COP21 climate meeting in Paris. Back home, we know the only sensible approach to fracking is to ban it. The experience of other countries is shocking, people don’t consent and they’re right to object. Fiddling with the fine print isn’t the answer.”

For more information please contact:

Eve Mitchell, EU Policy Advisor – +44 (0)1381 610 740, [email protected]

Food & Water Europe Calls on MEPs to Reject Fracking for Shale Gas in Industry Committee Vote on Energy Union

More than 1200 Organizations Around the World Join Call for a Global Ban on Fracking

Brussels – Today, Food & Water Europe is urging Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) – the Industry, Energy and Research committee in particular – to reiterate their opposition to shale gas and other unconventional oil and gas resources due to the negative climate and environmental impacts associated with fracking, when voting on the own-initiative report of MEP Gróbarczyk1. Food & Water Europe hopes that MEPs will recognize the limited potential of shale gas in reducing the EU’s reliance on fossil gas imports. On the eve of the Paris climate summit, the EU needs to show higher ambition for renewables and energy efficiency in order to curb its reliance on coal, oil and fossil gas. This is why Food & Water Europe delivered its ‘2015 Global Frackdown to Paris’ letter2 – calling for a ban on fracking, which was signed by over 1200 groups in 64 countries – to the offices of MEPs. The great success of this letter again demonstrates that the social licence to operate for the fracking industry remains absent. Fighting climate change, while simultaneously allowing exploration for new, unburnable high-carbon resources like shale gas, is inherently contradictory.

“In the year of the critical Paris climate summit and with the impact of climate change becoming more severe by the year, the European Union must send a strong signal to the world that it is committed to keeping fossil fuels in the ground, starting with its own unconventional oil and gas resources”, said Food & Water Europe Director Geert Decock.

More than 1200 groups signed on to the ‘2015 Global Frackdown to Paris’ letter. This letter outlines the main reasons why fracking for unconventional oil and gas cannot be part of any ambitious plans to tackle climate change. First of all, combusting fossil gas instead of e.g. coal releases half the CO2 emissions, but a longer-term reliance on gas will only serve as a bridge fuel to climate chaos. Secondly, more and more peer-reviewed scientific evidence calls into question the low-carbon status of fossil gas due to high levels of ‘fugitive methane’ emissions from its up-, mid- and downstream infrastructure. Last but not least, unconventional oil and gas resources are ‘unburnable carbon’, meaning that their exploitation breaks the world’s remaining and rapidly shrinking carbon budget to stay within the 2 degrees climate target. Instead, the world needs a rapid decarbonisation of its economies, based on ambitious no-regrets policies such as the promotion of energy efficiency and renewables.

Contact: Geert Decock tel. +32 (0)2 893 10 45, mobile +32 (0)484 629.491, gdecock(at)fweurope.org

EU fracking ‘Recommendation’ Fails to Protect Citizens

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE, FOOD & WATER EUROPE

Brussels, October 8 – EU guidelines on how member states carry out shale gas exploration and production are failing to protect the environment and the health of citizens, a new report has found.

Jointly developed by Friends of the Earth Europe and Food & Water Europe, the report ‘Fracking business (as usual)’ [1] says the European Commission’s Recommendations [2] lack the ability to force member states to even make minimal changes to their shale gas regulations. They also rely too heavily on self-monitoring by the oil and gas industry to control the worst impacts of fracking.

As a result, the report says member states are exploiting the weaknesses of the Recommendations and are failing to take adequate precautionary steps against the potential risks of shale gas, including publishing the chemicals used, safely disposing of fracking waste water, and liability for abandoned oil and gas wells.

Based on the report’s findings, Friends of the Earth Europe and Food & Water Europe have warned that the weak Recommendations are increasing the likelihood of serious threats to communities such as ground water contamination, toxic air pollution, damage to landscapes, and health risks including cancer and birth defects.

Antoine Simon, shale gas campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said:

“The European Commission and EU Member States lack the political will and ability to strictly regulate the fracking industry. With mounting evidence about the negative impacts of fracking in the US and growing recognition of the long-term risks, we believe that the precautionary principle should be front and centre in decision-making on fracking in Europe. Relying on industry monitoring its own impact is like putting the the fox in charge of the hen house.”

Geert de Cock, Director EU Affairs for Food & Water Europe, said:

“In the year of the critical Paris climate summit and with the impact of climate change becoming more severe by the year, the European Union must send a strong signal to the world that it is committed to keeping fossil fuels in the ground, starting with its own unconventional oil and gas resources.”

Introduced by the European Commission in 2014, the Recommendation asked member states to implement its minimum principles within six months of publication and committed to carry out a review of member states’ actions after 18 months.

Based on analysis of this completed review, together with evidence from EU member states (in particular Poland, the UK, Germany, Spain, Romania and Republic of Ireland), the Fracking business (as usual)’ report has highlighted a number of deep inadequacies in the Recommendation:

Weak and non-binding: The principles outlined in the Recommendation are non-binding, poorly defined, and create legal uncertainty about the relevance of existing EU regulations. They rely primarily on self-regulation by the shale gas industry, allowing operators to decide how best to prevent environmental and health impacts, how best to monitor the installation, and how best to protect the public.

The EU’s scoreboard: Evidence presented in the Commission’s own survey of member state responses (the “scoreboard”) reveals that only four states – Poland, the UK, Lithuania and Germany – have taken legislative or other steps following the introduction of the Recommendation, and that these measures do not fulfil the principles set out in the Recommendation.

Industry defines risks: While member states are encouraged to ensure that potential shale gas sites are fully assessed to identify potential risks, these risks are not clearly identified. Instead, the Recommendation suggests that these will be determined by dialogue between member states and industry.

Inadequate implementation: Risk assessments, monitoring and enforcement are recommended as essential in minimising risk and preventing environmental damage, but evidence suggests that member states often choose to ignore this process. The principles they do introduce are often very industry-friendly, undermining the transparency and legitimacy of the industry. 

Regulatory cost: The non-binding nature of the Recommendation and the reluctance of member states to regulate shale gas exploration and extraction appear, in part, to be due to industry lobbying about the costs of complying with regulation. But analysis by the International Energy Agency suggests that compliance with key environmental mitigation measures would add just 7% to the overall cost of drilling and completing a shale gas well. This appears minor compared to the costs of extraction in Europe, which can be 300% times higher than in the US. 

For more information please contact:

Antoine Simon, Friends of the Earth Europe, antoine.simon@foeeurope, T: +32 2 893 10 18, M: +32 486 685 664

Geert de Cock, Food & Water Europe, [email protected], T: ++2 2 893 10 45, M: +32 484 629 491

Link to the Fracking Business (As Usual) report (http://www.foodandwatereurope.org/reports/fracking-business-as-usual/)

[2] “Recommendations on minimum principles for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons (such as shale gas) using high-volume hydraulic fracturing”

For First Time, A Majority of MEPs Vote for An Immediate Moratorium On Fracking, But Final Version of ‘Energy Security Strategy’ Report Ultimately Rejected

Brussels – During today’s vote on the ‘Energy Security Strategy’ report of the European People’s Party (EPP) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Saudargas, a majority of MEPs (338+/319–/42o) voted in favour of an immediate moratorium on fracking given its negative environmental impacts. Food & Water Europe considers today’s vote a milestone for the European anti-fracking movement, even though the final version of the Saudargas report failed to gather the necessary votes to be officially adopted by the European Parliament (277+/315–/111o). This surprising final vote is the direct result of 75 EPP MEPs rejecting and 93 EPP MEPs abstaining from the report of their own EPP colleague Saudargas in order to support fracking and shale gas. The results of this vote clearly show which MEPs are supporting the efforts of Big Oil & Gas to keep the pipe dream of shale gas in Europe alive.

“Today’s vote in the Parliament provides a clear indicator that the public acceptance for the fracking industry is crumbling across the EU,” said Food & Water Europe Director of EU Affairs Geert Decock, “We concur with the Parliament’s view that a long-term investment in shale gas threatens the ambition of the EU to decarbonize its economy by 2050”.

Contact: Geert De Cock tel. +32 (0)2 893 10 45, mobile +32 (0)484 629.491, gdecock(at)fweurope(dot)org

European Parliament’s Industry Committee Close to Endorsing Immediate Moratorium on Fracking, Showing Political Support for Shale Gas Is Waning

Brussels – Food & Water Europe is thrilled that the European Parliament’s Industry, Research & Energy Committee just about endorsed an immediate moratorium on fracking in the EU in a close vote – 30 in favour and 30 against – on one of the amendments to the report of MEP Saudargas about an ‘European Energy Security Strategy’. Coming just one vote short shows that the public acceptance of shale gas among Members of the European Parliament is crumbling, as the evidence about the negative environmental impacts of fracking is mounting. With an online letter writing campaign, Food & Water Europe enabled European citizens to call on their newly elected Members of the European Parliament to take a strong stance against fracking. These efforts clearly paid off, as half of the Industry Committee members voted in favour of amendment 366, which reads as follows:

16 a. On the basis of the precautionary principle and on the principle that preventive action should be taken, taking into account the risks and the negative climate, environmental and health impacts involved in hydraulic fracturing for the exploitation of unconventional fracking and the gaps identified in the EU regulatory regime for shale gas activities, urges Member States not to authorise any new unconventional hydraulic fracturing operations in the EU

“Today’s vote in the Industry Committee shows that there is a growing concern among Members of the European Parliament about the negative impacts of fracking,” said Food & Water Europe Director of EU Affairs Geert Decock. “This close vote – just one vote short of a majority – should send a message to the European Commission that shale gas has no place in the EU energy mix. Now is the time to further reduce our gas consumption by investing in renewables and energy efficiency.”

The final version of the Saudargas report offers strong support for “developing smart grids”, “continued support for the construction of nearly zero-energy buildings” and draws attention to the need for “moderation of energy demand, in particular energy demand used for heating”. All these measures – if given strong support – will dramatically decrease the EU’s gas consumption, reduce the EU’s reliance on foreign gas suppliers and make the supposed ‘need’ for shale gas in the EU obsolete.

Contact: Geert De Cock tel. +32 (0)2 893 10 45, mobile +32 (0)484 629.491, gdecock(at)fweurope.org