'Drill baby, drill': Lincolnshire mayor criticised over fracking talks with US energy companies
Lincolnshire mayor criticised over fracking talks with US energy companies
An environmental group has criticised Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns for seeking to help a US fracking company.
Egdon Resources was behind the discovery of the huge gas field in the Gainsborough Trough last year, thought to be worth £110billion.
Records obtained by The Guardian show that the mayor has met fracking companies four times since last June, and asked Egdon “how [she] could help” with the discovery.
New fracking is banned in the UK due to fears it could cause earthquakes, with plans to outlaw the practice completely.
The Reform UK mayor has previously expressed support for reviving the policy in Lincolnshire, saying “drill baby, drill”, and has spoken out against renewable energy ‘eyesores’ like solar farms.
Lily-Rose Ellis, climate campaigner for Greenpeace UK, has attacked her support of fracking.
“This is what Reform’s energy policy boils down to: plotting with Texas-based frackers to resurrect an unpopular, failed polluting industry while sabotaging clean, thriving renewables that save their voters money,” she said.
Ms Jenkyns has been contacted for comment.
Speaking at the launch of a campaign against large renewable energy projects last year, she claimed the gas field could be “worth billions of pounds and 250,000 jobs”.
“[Energy secretary] Miliband has a ban on fracking, but Reform says ‘drill baby, drill. As mayor, I can ensure people have the right skills for these jobs.
“In 2029, after the next General Election, we can ensure Lincolnshire people get those jobs.”
She also urged more extraction of North Sea oil, describing it as a “treasure trove”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Fracking for shale gas is unsafe and will not take a penny off bills – that’s why we will permanently end new onshore oil and gas licences.
“The only way to protect household energy bills from volatile fossil fuel markets is with clean homegrown power that we control.”