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Although a spokesperson from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) insisted that "planning guidance is clear that fracking shouldn't be permitted if it affects SSSIs," Dr. Warhurst and others remain concerned. In August the government announced new "fast track" rules that allow ministers to intervene in fracking bids delayed by local councils, following frustrations over holdups. The rules prompted Greenpeace's head of campaigns, Daisy Sands, to accuse the Tories of "a clear affront to local democracy."Last week the Guardian revealed the government is also backing oil and gas companies—including Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron—who are lobbying EU leaders to drop proposals for increased fracking safety regulation. The measures would install provisions for "best available technologies and risk management procedures" (Brefs) to be used during fracking. UK government sources told the Guardian that Brefs would be "an unnecessary restriction on the UK oil and gas industry" and a cause of "unnecessary red tape."Dr. Warhurst said that attempts to deregulate the fracking industry, coupled with the possibility of more austerity against an already depleted Environment Agency, will leave SSSIs under the threat of fracking even more at risk."The problem is that there is a very strong ideology at the moment, which says that regulation is something that's bad. Whereas it's regulation that protects the environment. It's regulation that reduces harm from pollution. But there's a very strong push against regulation. It's really problematic. It may lower some short term costs, but it's more likely to cause problems in the long run," he said.READ ON MOTHERBOARD: Human Activity Is Causing Significantly More Earthquakes
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