Power Trip: Fracking in the UK (63mins) takes you onto the frontlines of UK resistance in the battle to stop the controversial energy extraction process known as ‘Fracking’.
Undercurrents productions show what happens beyond the few seconds glimpsed on the mainstream TV news. We follow grandmothers (Lancashire Nanas) as they team up with younger activists (Reclaim the Power) to shut down Cuadrilla’s drilling sites. In Lancashire and Sussex trucks are occupied, drilling sites are blocked and supply chains are disrupted. Police are spending millions of pounds trying (and failing) to stop the daily protests. One man attempts to make a citizens arrest on the Prime Minister for allegedly misleading the public over this form of extreme energy extraction
The film widens the discussion to highlight the role of the media and lobby groups in shaping public perception of unconventional gas and oil exploration. We hear from energy experts, journalists and key politicians amongst the voices of local residents and councillors.
Interviews include (amongst others)
George Monbiot, Columnist and author
Caroline Lucas MP, Leader of Green Party
John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor (Labour)
Tamasin Cave, Spinwatch
Tina Louise Rothery, Lancashire Nanas
Anna & others, Reclaim the Power
Paul Mobbs, Ecological Futurologist
Dale Vince, Founder Ecotricity
Prof. Andrew R. Barron, Director Energy Safety Research Institute
Kevin Blowe, The Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol)
Ruth Hayworth, Journalist Drill or Drop
Jamie Kelsey Fry, New Internationalist
John Vidal, Environment editor The Guardian