Are we being seduced by fracking pay-outs?

WRITING in the Mail, the chief of INEOS’s shale-gas operations made a great case for fracking. The SNP is stuck on another trendy bandwagon in opposing dramatic new technology and its dogma is damaging this country. We are supposed to be ‘the Saudi Arabia of renewables’ but that was a snake-oil salesman talking rubbish. In America we already see the bonanza from fracking. Let’s get on with it here! susan Grant, Stirling.

By offering a modest pay-out to those living in fracking areas, the government is recognising the disadvantages of these locations and the potential effect on the environment and property prices. Morally, the issue of fracking comes down to a simple choice: is the government’s priority a cheaper and independent source of fuel for the next few generations, or is it to look at the very long-term effects on the earth and its environment?

diane silva, Lytham, Lancs.

AS USUAL, the anti-fracking brigade are wailing. A quote from Calvin Coolidge comes to mind: ‘Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.’ We’re British and will persevere and provide our own power sources, rather than relying on foreign investment.

CLIVE linley, Southwell, notts.

Thank goodness the anti-fracking protesters weren’t around when coal was discovered. They would have stopped coal being mined on health and safety and environmental grounds, resulting in no employment where coal was available — and we’d still be chopping wood to keep warm. shirley harries, angmering, W. Sussex.