FRACK OFF!

Manchester Liberal Democrats environment spokesperson, Dr Jackie Pearcey, has welcomed moves today led by Liberal Democrats MP Wera Hobhouse calling for an end to fracking because of its adverse impact on the environment and its incompatibility with tackling the climate crisis.

After gaining her PhD Jackie Pearcey took part in a project to work out what would happen with long-term nuclear waste repositories under various points in the North of England and told us that "The problem was that the ground water would always get in and would always get up to the surface. Fracking will contaminate the groundwater and this will get to the surface."

"Not only does fracking damage our environment and bring with it the potential threat of earthquakes, water pollution and green spaces being transformed into industrial landscapes, it also damages important geology that could be used for generating clean renewable energy using heat synch technology."

The debate comes hot on the heels of the #FridaysForFuture movement which saw Swedish student Greta Thunberg inspire hundreds of thousands of school pupils across the world to strike in aid of tackling climate change, including in the UK.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Liberal Democrat Climate Change Spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said: "Since the Conservative Government's proposals on shale gas were announced, 300,000 people have signed petitions against their plans and forty councils have passed motions to reject them. They rightly demand better and it would be criminal to ignore them."

Jackie added "The Liberal Democrats have a long history of opposing fracking, and here in the North Liberal Democrat scientists have helped fight the cause of local communities in the courts against fracking. We are categorically against fracking, and the damage it would inflict on our environment."