We have previously posted about fracking, how it's deeply unpopular and has no social licence.
This didn’t stop Aggregate Industries, however, from being one of the first to jump on the bandwagon, profiting from our country's attempt to uncover yet another source of fossil fuels, and having one of its quarries targeted by protesters in the process.
This week: Lancashire @UK_Nanas #fracking protests, @EHowardComposer & @takebacktheatre https://t.co/2GUgIQ7UmP pic.twitter.com/mBQ4pb1tte— Big Issue North (@bigissuenorth) January 16, 2017
The government – in preparing the ground for the election – has now called for a temporary halt to shale gas extraction, to be imposed "until and unless" extraction is proved safe.
The government had previously been in favour of covering our country with fracking rigs. Boris Johnson had referred to fracking as "glorious news for humanity" and that we should "leave no stone unturned, or unfracked" in pursuit of such riches.
Whilst this suspension is great news for communities under threat from fracking – and the associated earthquakes, groundwater pollution, HGVs etc – it is less great news for the UK minerals industry, salivating at the thought of delivering load after load of aggregates, particularly frac sand:
Each fracking site would require over 7,500 tons of frac sand (from Cheshire and/or Norfolk)
That source of revenue – to Aggregate Industries and friends – now looks a good deal less certain.
