We need to use our fossil fuels

I am sure Sir Nicholas Soames is very pleased that last week's letter writer has given up writing to him, considering some of her statements.

Recently a flow test was conducted at Balcombe and no fracturing was used, and at the moment none is envisaged. Any person passing by would not know where the site is as it is surrounded by trees and is only approximately one acre.

The only spoiling of the beautiful landscape at this site, in the past, has been the army of scruffy protestors, camping, blocking traffic, trespassing in the woods, and abusing country workers going about their business.

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She talks about pollution. I have been lucky enough to visit the site, and seen the safety measures in place, and the amount of monitoring being done by Angus Energy, Department of the Environment and West Sussex County Council. I was told that the flare stack removes 99% of unwanted gas and the residue is much less polluting than the people of Balcombe cooking their lunches with gas.

We need fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, as heavy plant and nearly all shipping, to name a few, cannot run on batteries. What will charge all those millions of electric cars etc. on a windless dark night?

I am sure all those super tankers importing oil from other countries, including Russia, are responsible for more climate change than any on shore drilling. By not using our natural resources we are at the mercy of, and making rich, other countries, instead of having the benefit of our own supplies.

Although Mr Soames is not my MP, he has the sense to support the exploration for a cheaper fuel until viable alternatives are available, and do not tell me that the tens of thousands of windmills proposed will not destroy England’s green and pleasant land.

Derek Earl

High Street, Balcombe