If our friend Nick Grealy was still around he’d be writing something very clever about the news; the Brits are finally going to start fracking in Lancashire.

Nick Grealy was speaking up for shale gas in the UK and around the world long before I got to it. I discovered his No Hot Air website very early in our own struggle and found it to be a wonderfully witty, in-your-face, source of information and attitude. Nick left us for a better place not so long ago. He had hoped to live long enough to see his fellow Brits finally get fracking after almost a decade of delay in spite of his determined advocacy. He didn’t quite make it, but I have to believe he’s smiling up there today because the UK just authorized fracking in Lancashire.

It’s been a very long haul. The shale gas wells were drilled some time ago, but hydraulic fracturing of them hadn’t yet been approved. Moreover, the Guardian was still trashing the idea this past January even as its offices .... Now, though, our friends at Lancashire for Shale have finally prevailed. Here’s their big announcement from yesterday:

FINAL FRACKING CONSENT GRANTED TO CUADRILLA IN LANCASHIRE

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS) HAS TODAY GIVEN CUADRILLA FINAL CONSENT FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AT PRESTON NEW ROAD

Read more:

http://naturalgasnow.org/nick-grealy-smiling-brits-finally-start-fracking-lancashire/