Friends of the Earth and community campaigners are calling on the government to refuse consent for fracking in Lancashire, as drilling begins at Preston New Road.
Fracking, which involves extracting gas or oil trapped inside rocks, contributes to climate change.
Greg Clark MP, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, still has to give final consent before the controversial hydraulic fracturing process can begin.
With support for fracking at an all-time low (PDF), and local opposition increasing, we're saying it’s not too late for the government to admit it has got it wrong on fracking – and stop this costly mistake before it begins.
Councillors in Lancashire voted to reject fracking in their area in 2015, but the decision was overturned by the Westminster government.
Fracking is currently banned in Ireland and France and halted in the Netherlands until 2020; and there is a moratorium in Scotland and Wales while the risks are investigated. This puts England’s pursuit of fracking at odds with all of its closest neighbours.
Helen Rimmer, Friends of the Earth campaigner, said:
“The start of drilling means that local people will be subject to 24-hour noise, 7 days a week, from a fracking project that they don’t even want.
“Fracking is bad news for the local community, bad news for our environment and is the wrong solution to our energy needs.
“Now is the time for Greg Clark to show he’s serious about climate change and say no to fracking before it begins.”