All interesting points. People are already losing house sales because of fracking which is a nightmare for them and totally unfair.

Or of course the other side of the coin is potential purchasers are not being saddled with a lemon with a fracking plant at the bottom of the garden.

Works both ways you know.

We don't get the governments we deserve, we simply don't have much in the way of choice, that's why it's so refreshing to have Nige and UKIP.

I believe that career politicians should be banned - it shouldn't be a sinecure for life as it seems to be in some cases. I think we'd get better and more effective candidates if say there was a 10yr maximum rule for being a local councillor or an MP.
Secondly I believe that the off-spring of MP's should be banned from becoming MP's, do we really want the sons of Blair, Straw, Prescott, Kinnock and all the other scum-bags who've disgraced the political scene. I'm not being party-biased here, this should apply to all parties.

The UK independence party will accuse anti-fracking "eco-freaks" of trying to kill off "the greatest new economic opportunity for our country in our lifetimes" on Friday.

In a speech at the Ukip party conference in London, energy spokesman Roger Helmer will say: "I have absolutely no sympathy for the rent-a-mob protesters, the swampies and the Occupy Movement and the anti-capitalists and eco-freaks who have sought to hijack the Balcombe protest."

What has been the fracking experience in the US? Any major problems?

Published on 17 Jul 2013
"Are we in danger of condemning our Children to lives of abject misery?"

In December 2012, the UK Government lifted the moratorium on the process known as Hydraulic Fracturing (FRACKING), pronouncing that the UK would be at the 'heart of the Shale Gas revolution'.

Ian R Crane worked in the Oilfield Services Industry for 20 years (1979-98). Today he is on a mission; a mission to ensure that the British public are made aware of the abomination that is about to be unleashed on their 'Green & Pleasant Land'.

Former oilfield executive Ian R Crane has engaged industry sources and independent researchers to lay the foundations for his investigations into fracking -- mining of shale and coal seam gas. In "Fractured Future -- It doesn't have to be this way", a nationwide speaking tour, Ian asks whether this 'miracle' of nature really will be the solution to our nation's problems? Is it going to be the best thing for us since North Sea gas, or are there hidden dangers which could impact upon communities in ways which need open discussion?

Across the UK, a backdrop of unemployment, national debt and austerity is creating a distraction from more long-term problems. While such issues will take decades to address, the potential hazards brewing in the background, which the wider public remain complacent about, are likely to take centuries to put right. Ian considers whether corporate profits are being put ahead of the health, safety and the well-being of our natural environment. We are subjected to increasing restrictions on food choices and health choices, all in the name of protecting us. We have more surveillance and monitoring to safeguard us, and further restrictions on the media are forthcoming. Are such actions justified, and considering our safety is being seen as paramount in these areas, will fracking be subjected to equal levels of caution?

Our national debt has risen by 4%, from 82% to 86% of our Gross Domestic Product, despite all the austerity measures put in place -- creating a Trillion Dollar Debt. As experts will tell you, once it goes beyond 100% (where UK debt will be more than annual turnover) our problems will escalate. Is fracking a short-term gain for a long-term loss? A credit crunch turned into an environmental crunch, while bankers' bonuses continue to escalate?

Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda are being fought and funded by the West at one and the same time, and yet the people of Britain just shrug their shoulders. Are we heading towards another World War, and if so, who actually is the enemy? With the unlimited power supposedly presented to us via fracking worldwide, will global peace break out, or will this represent the beach-head in the next battle for energy supremacy?

Prior to becoming an Independent Analyst, Ian R Crane had two decades of experience in the oil and gas industries as a Schlumberger executive, working and living in the UK, Mainland Europe, Middle East & North America

Ian R Crane's website: http://www.ianrcrane.com

I honestly don't agree that we get the governments we deserve.... except maybe for the mistake of continuing to vote tribally for parties who've lied to us over and over in the past.

So true. And (if I may divert from the topic of Fracking just for a moment) because of this, politicians today no longer wnat to change our minds, by which i mean, they no long try to convince us of the value of their policies, and their view of the world, but instead try to ensure that as many of their 'tribe' as possible come out to vote! Its the draining of intelligent disource in our politics ...