Kids Count at the Labour Party Conference

Fracking

To frack or not to frack, was the hottest debate topic at last weekend’s Labour Party conference. The two thousand-strong People’s Climate Rally, which assembled at Piccadilly Gardens on Sunday morning, marched through the centre of the city before protesting outside the conference at Manchester central.

Overall the march did manage to turn some heads, such as Michael Meacher, MP who said that fracking was “no Eldorado” and that “fossil fuels have to be left in the ground if we are to tackle climate change”.

Fracking is the process of extracting natural gasses from rock layers deep within the earth. During this process, methane gas and toxic chemicals leach out from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater. There have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling.

Many argue that fracking is highly destructive for the environment and in recent years their campaigns have expanded greatly. However University of Manchester scientists told the Labour Party Conference that fracking may be less environmentally damaging than installing solar panels or wind turbines. There are still millions of people who have yet to make up their minds about fracking.

Mel is blogging on behalf of Kids Count, a think-tank focused on the practical rather than the theoretical. Find out more at www.kidscount.org.uk