Campaigners are urging members of the public to object to a planning application to drill for oil in the Dorset countryside, which they say is incompatible with Dorset Council policies and the need to address the climate emergency. [1]
If approved, the proposal will see an oil well being drilled next to a sensitive chalk stream and up to ten HGVs a day passing through Dorset to the Fawley Refinery 50 miles away. Local campaigners are urging members of the public to take action against the proposal by logging onto the Dorset Council Planning Portal and lodging their objections before the deadline of 9th February. [2]
Campaigners argue that allowing the proposal would be incompatible with the Dorset climate emergency declaration, the government’s Net Zero Strategy and last year’s warnings from the International Energy Agency that no new oil is needed anywhere from 2021. [3] [4][5]
Julie-Ann Booker from Fossil Fuel Free Dorset said:
“Drilling for oil in the heart of the Dorset countryside when we know our climate is dangerously close to irreversible tipping points is so unnecessary. It won’t add to our energy security and will provide little local employment. How can we look our children in the eye and say that we didn’t know that continuing to extract fossil fuels would destroy their future?”
Vicki Elcoate from Dorset Climate Action Network said:
“We estimate that if approved, the oil well will generate a total of 9 million tonnes of greenhouse gases over its 20 year lifespan. That includes direct emissions from the site and the emissions generated when the oil is used. That’s equivalent to the average annual carbon emissions from 2.8 million homes. Methane leakage from the site could add 12% to Dorset’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.”
“The planning application does not provide the figures needed to understand the true environmental impact, or propose how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions arising from the project and makes a number of unsupported claims. This needs to be refused.
The application to drill a vertical oil well just off the A354 near Athelhampton was first submitted in December 2019 by South Western Energy Ltd. A number of objections were lodged at that time and the proposal was criticised by the Environment Agency and Natural England among others. After 18 months of limited progress six new planning documents were posted online in January 2022. They included reports on the impact on heritage, ecology, hydrology, climate and restoration. [6][7]
Sara Pascoe from Save our Shores Bournemouth said:
“ Apart from the sheer lunacy of drilling new marginal oil resources when we know that the UK is planning to phase down oil production, the proposed well is to be drilled right next to a sensitive chalk stream. Drilling will inevitably cause contamination from leakage and spillage of drilling fluids and oil which would be catastrophic for the local environment and drinking water.”
Recent climate science suggests that there is no carbon budget left if we want to have a chance of keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5oC by the end of the century. That’s why the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said last year that “countries should end all new fossil fuel exploration and production, and shift fossil fuel subsidies into renewable energy.” Latest estimates suggest we are heading for a catastrophic 2.4oC of warming by 2100.[8][9]
A report from the respected Chatham House published last year suggested that based on current emissions reduction pledges, the world was still heading for 10 million deaths each year from heat stress in the 2030s and crop yields declining by 30% condemning millions to starvation. The report stated that the knock on effects of this will lead to financial collapse and civil unrest.[10]
[1] https://www.dorsetcan.org/nooil.html
[2] Respond to application number WD/D/19/002866 at https://plan.dorsetcc.gov.uk
[3] https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/emergencies-severe-weather/climate-and-ecological-emergency
[4] https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/the-move-to-net-zero/
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/18/no-new-investment-in-fossil-fuels-demands-top-energy-economist
[6]
[7] https://drillordrop.com/2020/02/26/regulator-objects-to-second-oil-plan-over-failure-to-assess-risk-to-water/
[8] https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/secretary-generals-statement-the-ipcc-working-group-1-report-the-physical-science-basis-of-the-sixth-assessment
[9] https://climateactiontracker.org/publications/glasgows-2030-credibility-gap-net-zeros-lip-service-to-climate-action/
[10] https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/climate-change-risk-assessment-2021
