Activist pensioners today formed a human link in the lobby of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to protest commercial fracking.
Locked into unbreakable seals, five members of Grandparents for a Safe Earth showed their determined to protect the world for the young.
After an emergency injunction preventing protesting was obtained by exploration company Cuardrilla at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire on Friday, these grandparents decided to descend on London.
“They’ve blocked protesting at the site for 40 days, if we went there we would be in contempt of court, they could send us to jail or seize or assets,” said Barbara Day, 79.
These environmental protectors are calling for secretary of state Greg Clark to change his mind against allowing commercial fracking in the UK.
Stood with homemade signs and many wearing placards with the faces of their grandchildren the protestors described this as a rational campaign with an emotional connection.
“We’re going to be dead soon. That’s the matter of it, we need to leave the world in a better condition for our grandchildren’s generation,” said grandfather Sigurd Reimers, 721/2.
“Fracking is bad for the environment and dangerous to human health.”
Fracking is the process of using high pressure water to extract natural gas from under the earth and is currently under exploration in the UK with commercial contracts due to be signed in 40 days.
“There are five people in our human chain,” said Pauline Reimers, who turns 71 on Sunday.
“It’s quite hard protesting, we’re really quite old, two of them are octogenarians. Phil is 82.”
She continued that they are a protest centred around peace and that to get out of the human chain the bonds had to be cut open.
While three of the protestors spoke to members of the public about their cause, Department of Energy security were not allowing access to the human chain stating security risks.
“I don’t see how we’re a security risk,” said Mr Reimers.
“We’re here to protest the undemocratic process that has happened here, the people voted against fracking, the council voted against fracking and they’ve all been over turned by this department.”
The Grandparents for a Safe Earth are protesting to raise awareness while other environmental groups gather evidence to try and block the commercial contract through court.
