Egdon Fracking Not Welcome

Earlier this year David Cameron announced, “We’re going all out for shale” while simultaneously announcing bribes to councils and local planning authorities in order to spread destructive fracking operations across the country.

Fracking being yet another polluting and wasteful method of energy production that is entirely suited to capitalist profiteering.

Egdon Resources is just one of many companies set to rake in the profits from such fracking, and according to one financial analyst: “Interest in Egdon has increased twenty-fold since Total of France became the first international oil company to enter into the UK shale industry [earlier this year].”

Rich fat cats like Andrew Lodge, who is a member of Egdon board of directors must be rubbing his hands with glee; all the more so as he is already earning big bucks working as the Exploration Director for Premier Oil — the chairman of Premier Oil (Mike Welton) being the former CEO of the illegal, worker-blacklisting, building contractor Balfour Beatty.

The Premier Oil connection is particularly interesting in the context of fracking as one fellow board member at Premier, a man known as Joe Darby (who incidentally is the former chairman of the blacklisting construction giant formerly known as Mowlem) is also counted as a board member of Alkane Energy — which describes itself as “one of the UK’s fastest growing independent power generators.” With Alkane Energy happening to be at the forefront of fracking in Britain.

So it was happy news indeed for shareholders of Egdon Resources last week, when Egdon announced that it was “setting out details of the proposed acquisition of the onshore shale gas business and assets of Alkane Energy”. Of course for the rest of us such news is not so welcome.

Energy creation and distribution is far too important an issue to leave up to the grasping claws of vulture businessmen intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of everyone else (and the environment). This means making the case the socialism even more urgent a proposition: an issue that the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has been especially busy doing by standing some 560 working-class candidates in local elections.

Now is the time to reclaim our energy industry! Public ownership and democratic control of the Big Six energy companies would be a good start in any bid to develop an urgently needed socialist plan for energy production, distribution and pricing. All of  which will serve to benefit the millions not the millionaires.