Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones calls the suggestion that London’s residents will not notice the noise and disruption of fracking trucks due to existing high levels of traffic and noise “truly insulting” and calls for the Mayor to prioritise switching to renewables.
A new energy firm, London Local Power’s (LLP), have bid to frack three blocks of land in London, two of which cover an area from Harrow in the North West to near Downing Street in central London and parts of Merton and Surrey. LLP argue that noise and disruption to local communities from hydraulic fracking would not be a problem in London, because it already has high levels of traffic and noise.
Caroline Lucas in a fracking protest last summer at Balcombe in West Sussex, as pictured on the BBC.
Jenny Jones AM has consistently criticised the Mayor of London’s vocal support for fracking. The Mayor said last week that shale gas exploration has been “frustrated by NIMBYs” and “If reserves of shale can be exploited in London we should leave no stone unturned, or unfracked, in the cause of keeping the lights on“.
London Assembly Member Jenny Jones said: “The suggestion that London’s residents will not notice the noise and disruption of fracking trucks as it already has high levels of traffic and noise is truly insulting”
“Boris Johnson can’t just brush these off as NIMBY issues. More noise, pollution on our roads is completely unacceptable. Nor should the risks of contaminating ground water with toxic chemicals be underestimated”
“At a time when current trends mean that we are on course for a catastrophic 4 degree temperature increase, our priority must be switching to renewables such as solar/wind and getting serious about energy conservation. Exploiting even more fossil fuels such as fracked oil or gas that can only accelerate global warming just isn’t an option.”