Thursday 26 March 2015

Anti-fracking parliamentary candidate's embarrassing email


Mike Hill is a prominent anti-fracking activist in Lancashire, who is currently running for parliament on an anti-fracking ticket. Mr Hill is an engineer by training, so he's somewhat more effective than most of the anti-fracking groups, who as we have seen tend to take a strongly anti-scientific bent.

Mr Hill featured on this blog when I discussed the relevance of certain US studies for the UK context: he often cites these papers as evidence for what might be expected in the UK, but actually they describe practices (uncontrolled venting of flowback gases with no capture and/or no flaring) that are not allowed in the UK, and so the studies are of very limited relevance.

Anyway, I mention him now because emails have come to light showing that only 2 years ago Mr Hill was writing to Cuadrilla asking them for work. This is presumably very embarrassing for a candidate running on an anti-fracking platform, particularly given some of the comments about other activist groups in his email:
"Just being anti-fracking is nonsense to me and always has been. It's purely a reaction and not a positive one. Often in response to utter gibberish news stories or propaganda set off by Frack-Off and co. I am up to the eyeballs with it. They want me to add professional credence to this utter nonsense." 
Can't say I disagree with much here (which makes a nice change for me, grumpy-guts that I usually am).

1 comment:

  1. It doesn't add up...31 March 2015 at 04:17

    I note that Mr Hill has been involved in the production of this report

    http://www.medact.org/news/new-report-health-fracking-the-impacts-opportunity-costs/

    http://www.medact.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/medact_fracking-report_WEB3.pdf

    and that he is working on a paper with emeritus "Prof" Smythe. All part of his campaign.

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