Should taxpayers pay to clean up corporate fracking pollution? The government thinks so.
Not only is fracking being forced on communities who don’t want it, if a fracking giant pollutes our environment then goes bust tomorrow, all of us get will landed with the bill.
But there’s a better way. Fracking companies like Cuadrilla could simply be made to buy insurance instead, saving the public huge sums if they go bust.
MPs and environmental groups are pushing the government to back this plan right now, but it won’t listen unless enough of us take up the charge.
Tell the government to force fracking companies to buy insurance so we don't pay for their pollution.
Affected communities around the world have shown us that fracking pollutes the groundwater and air. Fracking is playing with fire -- there could be a major accident any time. As if wrecking our environment wasn’t bad enough, that’d mean money better used on public services would be wasted bailing out the fracking profiteers.
If the government wants our country fracked all over, the very least it could do is ask fracking companies profiting to be properly insured. Forcing frackers to take out proper insurance means if they go bust, the bill for cleaning up their pollution is taken care of. Sounds like common sense -- but the government need persuading.
It’d be easy to make this change in the law. The government could just accept a proposed amendment on one of its bills in parliament. It’s done that before, when public pressure has reached a critical point.
Between us we’ve got the strength in numbers to create that pressure. The government listened when nearly 130,000 of us demanded it safeguard our national parks from fracking. Now let’s switch on that collected power of ours and get the government to force fracking companies to get proper insurance.
Sign the petition: we won’t pay to clean up fracking companies’ pollution!
More information
Taxpayers to pay for fracking pollution if companies go bust
The Guardian. 11 December 2016.
The Guardian. 11 December 2016.