The Guardian: Why fracking should be for the many
Fracking should be a defining issue in the general election. We should work hard to make sure it isn’t a footnote. If the scale of gas is anything like the claims made by its advocates, it has major implications for the economy and British society. Besides its worrying environmental aspects, it could have adverse effects on income distribution.
Recall that governments recklessly mishandled North Sea (or Scottish) oil, virtually giving away public resources to an elite. Ironically, while private firms were subsidised so that they could make huge profits, the way was opened up to eventual ownership of much of it by Chinese state capitalism. So much for the ideology of privatisation. Norway, on the other hand, had the wisdom to establish a public petrol fund, which evolved into the country’s sovereign wealth fund, by which all Norwegians, for generations to come, are the beneficiaries. Today, every Norwegian is effectively a millionaire.
It is too early to suggest that fracking offers anything like that. But it is time to be prepared for any eventuality. The coalition government’s plans for fracking are a licence to legalised corruption. Those Tory balls described in the Guardian recently showed that representatives of the industry are big Conservative donors. Will they want nothing in return?