You thought fracking was banned in the UK? Think again

The government should act to prevent fracking close to one of Britain’s national parks, writes Alan Robertshaw

It was interesting to read that new licences for oil and gas production in the North Sea are being delayed by legal action (Thirteen more oil and gas licences could be cancelled after Rosebank court ruling, 13 February).

However, it is a sad fact that, while this issue is receiving much publicity, various communities in the UK are, seemingly under the media radar, now facing the prospect of fracking licences being granted.

What? You thought that fracking had been banned in the UK? If so, please tell that to, for example, North Yorkshire council, which is about to receive an application from Europa Oil & Gas to begin fracking on land on the outskirts of Scarborough, just outside the North York Moors national park and a few hundred metres from the beautiful Yorkshire coast.

Isn’t it time that the government came clean (literally and metaphorically) and truly banned all future oil and gas extraction on- and offshore if we are to have any chance of reaching net zero by 2050?

Cover photo:  An anti-fracking protester at Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire in 2017. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer