Activists occupy UK govt building over heavily-redacted fracking report

As part of a nationwide day of direct action, campaigners have
occupied a government building and blockaded both entrances
to an energy firm. (Image from flickr.com / Reclaim The Power)

RT | Aug 18, 2014

A group of campaigners from Reclaim the Power are currently occupying the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) headquarters in London, following the government’s decision to censor a report on the potential impacts of fracking.

Three anti-fracking and climate justice activists superglued themselves to DEFRA’s main doors at approximately 8 am this morning, using reinforced arm tubes to prevent access. Another scaled the building and unfurled a large banner inscribed with the message: “What’s to hide DEFRA? – Don’t frack with our future.”

The activists wore black tape pasted across their mouths in an effort to convey the scale of censorship the government had recently employed prior to publishing its report.

'Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts,' which details the potential impacts of fracking on rural communities throughout Britain, was released following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request tendered to DEFRA.

The document was published with extensive sections of the text missing – a total of 63 separate redactions. Redacted portions of the study spanned its executive summary, a section on “Hydrocarbon reserves,” another on “Investment and job creation,” a third documenting areas “likely to be affected by shale gas licensing,” a segment relating to fracking’s economic impacts on rural communities, and large segments on the “social impacts” of shale gas drilling on rural locales. A mere three paragraphs remained in the report’s conclusion.

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