Fracking industry claims talks up job boom - but it's just more hot air

Posted by Richard Casson — 19 June 2015 at 12:10pm - Comments
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The North West Energy Task Force has been at it again. In the final days before Lancashire Council takes a critical decision over fracking, the Task Force’s PR team has fired into life and launched a new round of ads evangelising the benefits of shale gas.

If you've not heard of them before, the somewhat-misleadingly-named North West Energy Task Force is actually an organisation that's funded by fracking firms. For some time now, they’ve been arguing the case for shale gas in the north west of England, particularly with some highly questionable claims that there’s strong support from Lancashire businesses for the industry.

It should come as no surprise then that the Task Force’s latest ad campaign focuses on the creation of jobs. One of the billboards they’ve funded (photo above) contains a quote from a local business owner who says: "If we do not support it [fracking], I could see it being bad news for the UK. I could see the industry going abroad."

As someone who lived in Lancashire for 20 years, I can understand the appeal of a new industry setting up shop in a part of the country that was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.

But what the North West Energy Task Force hasn’t made clear is that there are a few problems with linking fracking to jobs.

First of all, there’s strong evidence to suggest that the promise of jobs has been much over hyped. Research conducted by Friends of the Earth, which was backed up by trade unions, showed that investing in renewable energy and efficiency would create more jobs than fracking. Indeed some solar power firms already claim that the government’s unshakable support for shale gas is damaging the renewable energy industry.

Secondly, instead of investing expertise and research time into fracking - an industry which hasn’t even proven itself to be profitable in the UK - wouldn't it make more sense for us to get behind the low-carbon economy while it's still in its early days? In recent years, countries like China and India have started to back renewable energy in a big way. They’re not doing this just to cut emissions, but also because these industries are expected to boom in the coming decades.

The UK is one of the windiest countries in Europe. But instead of continuing to develop the wind industry so that it can create even more jobs, David Cameron has vowed to curb the number of onshore wind farms we build.

Lancashire's unique geography presents other opportunities for renewable energy too. Earlier this year, Lancaster University threw its support behind proposals to construct a tidal lagoon in Morecambe Bay -- a project that, if built, could power tens of thousands of homes.

As the country waits to see if plans to drill for gas are approved by Lancashire council, we’ll no doubt be hearing plenty more claims - from fracking firms and their supporters - about how shale gas is the miracle fuel source that will solve the energy crisis and revive the economy.

And each time you hear such a claim it’ll be important to ask: In a world that’s finally shifting from fossil fuels, is more gas really what we need?

Read more: How shale gas could frack our chances of tackling climate change

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