Climate activists fight fracking
Energy company Caudrilla has begun test drilling in Balcombe, West Sussex, in a possible precursor to “fracking” — drilling shale rock to extract gas for energy generation. Local residents say they are “overwhelmingly against” the process and want their village to remain “frack free”. Climate activists have been protesting at the drilling site since the beginning of August, disrupting Caudrilla’s tests. Fracking, which is now widely used in America, carries significant environmental risks. Potentially carcinogenic chemicals can escape from fracking sites and contaminate groundwater. Fracking...