Extinction Rebellion activists occupy the entrance to the only fracking site in Britain, calling on the government to halt activities that are in stark contrast to the climate crisis.
Extinction Rebellion, with a demonstration against what they describe as the "flourishing catastrophe" of global warming, has blocked access to the only active fracking site in the United Kingdom.
Protesters from the environmental group gathered outside the shale gas extraction site near Blackpool, bringing with them a yellow boat bearing the words: "Planet before profit".
The initiative was promoted with the aim of reminding the government of the severe impact of fracking on climate change, environmental pollution and human health.
The protest action comes 15 days after a magnitude 2.9 earthquake linked to fracking activities was recorded, with effects on homes located several kilometres around the extraction site.
An Extinction Rebellion spokesperson said the aim of the demonstration was to highlight "the government's conscious, cynical inaction in response to a climate and ecological emergency". The science is clear, the protesters say: the world must urgently move away from an ever-growing system of consumption and destruction, entirely founded on and dependent upon fossil fuels. Despite this, the government is determined to find and exploit new reserves, supporting companies such as Cuadrilla, which operates the British fracking site and wants to open a new gas field in the north of the country.
The activists, in a statement, say they stand "alongside those communities that have tenaciously and peacefully resisted this situation for years. They have tried to defend themselves from the threat that fracking poses to air and water, their health, their land, including their homes, as demonstrated by the recent tremors".
Energy company Cuadrilla announced that its operations were not affected by the protest and that extraction activities continued. "We have no objection to peaceful, law-abiding protest, but we believe our neighbours, motorists using the busy road, our staff and our contractors should also be able to go about their business without disruption, inconvenience or intimidation," said a Cuadrilla spokesperson, according to whom shale gas "could be a very important resource for Lancashire and the United Kingdom and, although hydraulic fracturing is currently suspended, we would still like to continue our work to demonstrate its potential".
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Fracking activities in the United Kingdom had resumed in 2018 after being halted for seven years due to two earthquakes of magnitude 2.3 and 1.5. On 26 August, fracking extraction was suspended again after a new magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded at the site.
According to Extinction Rebellion, the British Conservative government supports fracking as a way to meet the United Kingdom's energy needs, and ministers are considering the possibility of relaxing the safeguard rules that currently require the immediate suspension of activities if even a tremor of magnitude 0.5 is recorded.
