Is fracking the way to solve the energy crisis?

THE decision by Lancashire county council to permit fracking at a site between Blackpool and Preston (Mail) is appalling. Water and chemicals are injected at high pressure into subterranean rocks and boreholes to force open fissures to extract gas. The chemicals can seep into the water table and rivers, making water undrinkable and poisoning fish. JOHN FAIR, Castlebar, Co. Mayo. IT’S sensible to let oil and gas explorer Cuadrilla at least see if it can get gas out of the ground for our benefit. If it all goes wrong, they can be stopped. We shall need gas for years to come and if we have our own supply, it will save a lot on bills. D. EDWARDS, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. I URGE you to say no to fracking. In New York, we have been lucky with committed scientists, a strong legal team, volunteers and a sympathetic governor. It has also helped that the price for natural gas has collapsed and several fracking companies have gone bankrupt and there is plenty of gas available from other states. People like me who have worked in the gas industry and for the U.S. Department of Energy have brought realism to the argument. E. C. KOKKELENBERG, Emeritus Professor of Economics, New York. IS THERE a North-South divide in fracking? The application to drill was refused by the local authority, but over-ruled by the Government. The appeal was over-ruled by a judge in London. Is there fracking in pretty parts of the Home Counties? GRAHAM BARTON, address supplied. OUR economic survival depends on an energy resource we can produce in this country. BRIAN McAVOY, Blackpool, Lancs.