President Trump, transport and fracking - here are the letters for June 4, 2019

Letters - June 4, 2019
President TrumpPresident Trump
President Trump

Please keep out of our politics Mr Trump

President Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of Boris Johnson, and Nigel Farage is an example of monumental cheek. He should, as previous Presidents have done, keep out of our politics. His choice of bedfellows is not surprising as they share several unattractive character weaknesses. They are: narcissistic, full of self-regard, bombastic, economical with the truth, loose cannons, and untrustworthy. Trump is nationalistic to a degree that is nauseating, the shambolic Johnson was a dreadful failure as Foreign Secretary, while Farage is a one issue politician. I am a staunch supporter of America but the sooner Trump goes home and the White House welcomes a new inhabitant the better.

Dr Barry ClaytonThornton Cleveleys

TRANSPORTAgree with report on state of roadsGot to totally agree with the feature ‘Roads not coming up to the mark’ (The Gazette, June 3).The Promenade is a disgrace with badly faded or nonexistent road markings at most of the traffic signal junctions.My granddaughter is currently a learner driver and it is very difficult to advise correct road positioning when lane markings and directional arrows are completely faded out due to lack of maintenance by the council.James LonsdaleFY4

FRACKINGAlternative was greener

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A newly released report, by NOOA and ESRL, shows that atmospheric concentrations of methane have continued to rise, with 2018 having the second highest annual increase in the last two decades. While it is likely that this growth is due to a combination of natural and man-made sources, scientists do not know what is driving the surge, and this is of additional concern to them as methane is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, and has a more powerful warming effect than previously thought.Close to home, we find that Cuadrilla has been ‘contributing’.Last week the Environment Agency (EA) issued the Compliance Assessment Report for its audit of flaring and gas management at Preston New Road, identifying another three breaches of the permit. The permitted activity covers flaring of methane, and specifies that there should be “no venting except where necessary for safety purposes”.However, the EA estimates that between 2.7 tonnes and 6.8 tonnes of methane was vented, unburned, through the flare for reasons other than for safety purposes.Cuadrilla had to use nitrogen, an inert gas, over a sustained period to ‘lift’ the flowback fluid and gas out of the well, which reduced the concentration of methane to levels that would not combust. Although Cuadrilla holds a support fuel (propane) on site, in line with the EA permit, they did not use it, as they considered that there was a high probability that the propane could also have been released unburned. Hence they were forced to choose the lesser of two evils? Was there an alternative?The IPIECA is a global oil and gas association for advancing environmental and social performance. It said: “If the gas is vented, this may generate a significant amount of methane and hydrocarbon emissions to the atmosphere. “Similarly, flaring generates a significant amount of combustion emissions”.It recommends the practice of Reduced Emissions Completions (RECs) or “green completions” for a newly drilled well prior to production, as the gas saved can be translated directly into methane emissions reductions.Given that the UK is meant to have ‘world leading’ regulation, and this site is close to a large population, why does the EA not insist that Cuadrilla use this technique at PNR?T Froud Lytham