Commenting on news reports that the UK oil and gas regulator has withdrawn an order to Cuadrilla to seal up and abandon its shale gas wells in Lancashire, a Greenpeace UK spokesperson said:

“Cuadrilla has had a decade to get fracking started, much of which under a government cheerleading for them, and got absolutely nowhere. Meanwhile, UK renewable energy has created thousands of jobs, powered thousands more homes and reduced our gas dependence. Trying to restart fracking now would only mean wasting more time when we have little. It will take many years to develop and if it ever gets produced, it will be sold to the highest bidder on the international market, with no impact on our energy bills. If the UK and Europe want to end their dependence on Russian gas, the quickest way to do that is by insulating homes, installing heat pumps and boosting renewables. These are tried and tested technologies, quick to deploy and getting cheaper all the time. The new energy strategy Boris Johnson is about to unveil must free our country from gas dependence as quickly as possible. This would protect households from soaring bills, tackle the climate crisis and weaken Putin’s hand.”