Decision to frack in Britain's scenic Yorkshire divides nation

Campaigners who lost their battle against allowing fracking in a picturesque spot in Yorkshire vowed Tuesday to challenge the approval given to an energy company to extract gas from shale.

Critics of fracking fear the decision will open the floodgates to shale gas extraction plants in other parts of the country.

The decision, though, will be welcomed by the national government who views fracking as a fuel source for Britain's future. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative government has said it would go "all out for shale" to boost energy security and the British economy.

Tests in many counties across Britain have indicated a rich reservoir of underground gas trapped between layers of rock.

However, early fracking initiatives in Britain virtually ended before they began, after test fracking in Lancashire was blamed for a number of small earthquakes along the Fylde coastal area in northern England in 2011.

The go-ahead Monday to allow fracking in neighboring Yorkshire was the first approval since the earthquakes.

In an editorial Tuesday, the Yorkshire Post, said fracking represented a new frontier in British energy provision and as such carried with it considerable uncertainty and concern.

"Given past refusals by local authorities to give the go-ahead to such operations, Third Energy's success in securing permission to drill for shale gas at Kirby Misperton may just have salvaged the entire UK fracking industry," it said.

"It is good news, of course, for those who support the government's view that it will provide a steady source of jobs and tax receipts as well as doing the important job of keeping the nation's lights on -- and all without posing risks to the environment or health," said the newspaper.

Despite receiving thousands of objections to fracking in one of Britain's most important scenic areas, the green light was given by North Yorkshire County Council.

Government policy was cited in a report to planning committee members by local planning officers who stated: "There is national policy support for the development of a shale gas industry in this country and this is an important material consideration."

Dr. Adam Marshall, acting director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, welcomed the decision saying it was "a much-needed victory for pragmatism, in the face of the serious energy security problems Britain faces."

Marshall added: "Fracking has the potential to play a part in solving the UK's energy crunch, and create new energy-related jobs in many areas."

However, in Yorkshire, dismay turned to anger on Tuesday, with campaigners saying they would seek legal action to overturn the decision.

Ian Conlan from Frack Free Ryedale, said: "It is appalling that despite the strength of public opposition, this application has been pushed through by councillors told what to do by a government determined to support the fracking industry."

"What faith can local people have in democracy if the members of the planning committee can just completely ignore both the strength of local opinion and the sound planning grounds that objectors have raised?" Endit