Critic: Censored Report Shows UK Government has 'Something to Hide' About Fracking

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/12/critic-censored-report-shows-uk-government-has-something-hide-about-fracking



Critic: Censored Report Shows UK Government has 'Something to Hide' About Fracking
Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Common Dreams

Critics of fracking in the United Kingdom assailed the British government on Monday for their heavy-handed censorship of an internal government report on the impacts of the shale oil and gas drilling technique.

The draft government report, titled Shale Gas Rural Economy Impacts, published by the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (or Defra), has information redacted 62 times in just 13 pages.

The censored sections include eight from the executive summary, four from the chapter on economic impacts, four from the section on social impacts, and 17 from the analysis of the impact on local services. Though the report still contains information regarding the negative impact on house prices in fracked areas, there is almost no visible mention of the environmental impacts of fracking or fracking waste.

Following the release of the censored report, Green Party Member of Parliament (MP) Caroline Lucas told BBC's Radio 4 Today that the "number of redactions would be almost comical if it weren’t so concerning."