Brighton and Hove’s bishop speaks out about fracking

The Church of England bishop with responsibility for Brighton and Hove has spoken out about fracking.

The Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, said that the fracking debate raised huge questions about our contemporary lifestyle.

The bishop, whose office is in Hove, called for a more challenging and informed debate around the issue.

Dr Warner said: “It is easy but also dangerous to claim the moral high ground in complex debate about the environment and our quest for new energy sources.

“The rich resources that fracking can unlock come with some questionable consequences both for the present and the future.”

Bishop Martin Warner

The Bishop said that he had heard assurances that fracking might release energy to supply many years of consumption.

But he said: “This raises other concerns. Is our present consumption of energy justifiable (not simply sustainable)?

“And do we know what we shall say to the rising generation of 40 years’ time about the greed with which we have consumed the earth’s resources and left them with considerably less?”

He called for wider and deeper debate in local communities and added: “The debate behind the fracking protest needs to be more challenging.

“We should be asking deeper questions about our own lifestyle today.

“How much less can we demand from the earth and still live rich and fulfilled lives?

“What investment should we be making in alternative uses of our resources that will benefit future generations?”