To frack or not to frack

There's been a lot in the media this week about fracking and the CofE's response to it. My own diocese made the headlines earlier in the week with the publication of a leaflet about fracking. The matter is clearly a complex one. We don't really know what the environmental effects of fracking are. There's lots of mythology from the experience in the USA, and there's genuine fear as a result of the earthquakes near Blackpool which resulted in the cessation of fracking work there.

The CofE has done its best to undo some of the publicity surrounding the Blackburn diocese leaflet. There seem to be some high-level politics at play here, and the church wants to remain neutral for whatever reason. There certainly seems to be unease at the CofE being landed with a universally negative opinion on fracking. Fair enough.

My own opinion is fairly simple; maybe too simple! I oppose fracking for the following reasons:

Moral and legal

If the uk is to get anywhere near its commitment to reduce carbon emissions, developing new methods of extracting fossil fuels from the ground isn't going to help. As I understand it, we have made a moral and legal commitment to reduce our carbon emissions. Fracking does not help us to achieve this; it actually makes it less likely! We can't keep digging up new fossil fuels and still manage the reduction unless the UK government gets interested in carbon capture - something that doesn't seem to be on the UK research agenda.

Theological

We have a fundamental responsibility to care for God's creation; stewardship of the earth is not primarily about using the earth's resources for our benefit; surely we are called to care for and preserve the earth. Digging holes which we fill with noxious chemicals under high pressure does not seem to be a good way of caring for God's creation. This isn't about NIMBYism, it's about NIGBYism - not in God's back yard.

Strategic

The problem with fracking is that it doesn't deal strategically with the energy problems we have; it's a temporary stop-gap 'solution'. If we are to deal strategically with the problem, we need to do much more to reduce our energy requirements and we need to do much more to find new and better ways of generating energy from renewable sources. Fossil fuels will run out. Fact. We need to start behaving like this is true, rather than running after each and every 'get out of jail card' that technology offers.

So I'm glad that the Blackburn Diocese came out and voiced concerns. As Christians, we should be concerned. I hear the cautionary notes about those who cannot afford to heat their homes, and how fracking may be a way of keeping fuel prices down. Of course, fuel poverty is something the church should be concerned about, but I don't think the solution to fuel poverty is to grab the latest fix of fossil fuel energy to maintain the current prices. That seems to be a deeply flawed argument.

Ultimately, I think my big problem with fracking is the direction in which it looks. It seems to look back into a time when it seemed as though the earth would forever supply our fossil fuel needs. What we need are energy solutions which look forward into a world with depleted fossil fuel resources and a problem with greenhouse gases.

UPDATE: For more on the fuel poverty angle, have a read here.

A quick brain-dump!

Apologies for the lack of blog activity of late. BTh exams start on Monday 30th (I have 5 papers in 4 days), so you can imagine that now is a time for strategic revision and a fair amount of panic! The resounding advice from revision seminars is to "answer the question". Fair point, and one I could have guessed before the seminars. The point the lecturers seem to miss is that for most of us, if we don't answer the question, it's not because we choose to ignore it; we genuinely can't answer the question properly with the revision we've done.

Anyway, enough moaning. Some reasons to be cheerful:

Blackburn Rovers are safe from relegation following a fantastic last day to the Premiership season. Blackpool looked like they might scrape a shock result against Man Utd, but alas, the seasiders are heading back down.

Lancashire are riding high in the cricket after a great LV result against Yorkshire, which came down to a Twenty20 style conclusion. They followed this with a rare performance in the Pro40 competition, which again, came down to the last over. For the time being, they are top in the LV County Championship. long may it continue. I wonder how much of this early promise is due to a drier than usual start to the season? Rain has often been the excuse for failure in recent years.

I've ordered a cassock. Boy, what a palaver! How many pleats Sir, would you like cuffs sir, and piping? How many buttons sir, Oooh, suits you sir! Anyway, hopefully it will arrive in time for my placement in Sheringham, which kicks off after exams are done.

There's a beer festival on Jesus Green this week! It would be better if it were next Friday, but beggars can't be choosers. There's a rumour of a Saturday visit - that might make a nice diversion from revision (hopefully not too large a diversion).

I think that's enough for now. I really need to get back to revising.

Feeling philosophical

Auguste Rodin's Le Penseur

For some reason, I've come over all philosophical about our impending upheaval. I don't mean in relation to the physical move or resettlement. Rather, I'm thinking about the change of mental pace I'm about to experience.

Whilst my current work is challenging in a number of delightful ways, it is rarely intellectually stimulating. In fact, the only time it is intellectually stimulating is when we have a disagreement in our management team meetings, and an 'argument' kicks off.  The mental manoeuvering reminds me of Philosphy seminars, when you would go into the room with firm conviction behind opinion A, and you would leave the room an hour later with a firm conviction behind opinion Z (having travelled through the whole alphabet on the way).

You can imagine, then, that I look forward with a mix of excitement and trepidation as I contemplate a 2 year degree in Theology (for Ministry). My degree was in Philosophy, but this is quite different from theology. And it was 9 years ago! I'm a bit worried that my mind has been dulled by the monotony of everyday working life, but I suppose I just have to work on the basis that it's a bit like riding a bike. 

I have tried to get myself prepared by doing a bit of reading, but as any parents among you will know, there is little spare time in a house where a 9 month old baby lives. I seem to get 4 or 5 pages into a book before having to start it again because I've left it too long before coming back to it.

As if by divine intervention, as I have been typing this post I have received an email from Westcott with a mammoth number of attachments (15 in total). One of these is a reading list which I would have hoped to have dented by now (but haven't). Looks like I'll have to stop procrastinating, and have a look at the email.