Friends of the earth withdraws 'misleading' anti-fracking leaflet

The charity’s fundraising pamphlet, called ‘Pat saved her home from fracking. You can save yours too’ featured a picture of Grasmere in the Lake District National Park and was marketed in a

magazine insert. It spoke of the impact of fracking for shale gas and stated fracking increased the risk of cancer and asthma, caused water contamination, affected house prices and caused

higher household insurance premiums. The charity has agreed not to repeat the claims after a 14-month probe by the ASA. The ASA said the case has been "closed informally", and no

full investigation will be conducted. The ASA objected to FoE using data collected from the fracking sites in Pennsylvania, USA and stated that information from the UK should be used.

Despite there being just an informal agreement the ASA still has the power to act should the claims be repeated. An insider at FoE told Express.co.uk: “The leaflet was produced about a year

and a half ago and the scientific evidence against fracking is stronger than it’s ever been and only grows.  “We stand by the fact that fracking is risky for the environment, and this is why

we continue to campaign against fracking.” Energy companies welcomed the decision by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) saying it was a victory against “anti-fracking myths”.

Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan, the company spearheading attempts to start shale gas exploration in the UK, said: “Friends of the Earth’s repeated falsehoods have been exposed as

nothing more than scaremongering designed to frighten the public into giving it money.” Mr Egan added: “After many attempts by Friends of the Earth to delay this decision, the charity’s

admission that all of the claims it made… were false should hopefully put a stop to it misleading the UK public on fracking.” A spokesman for the ASA said: “We approached Friends of the

Earth with the concerns that had been raised about its ad. “The advertiser agreed not to repeat the claims, or claims that had the same meaning. On that basis we closed the case informally.

The ad must not appear again in its current form.” In furious response Friends of the Earth (FoE) accused Cuadrilla of trying to “shut down opposition to fracking”. Friends of the Earth

senior campaigner Donna Hume said: “Cuadrilla’s complaint isn’t surprising from a profit-driven fracking company, after all, they have shareholders to keep happy. “They started this process

to distract from the real issues about fracking, and how burning fossil fuels is dangerous for climate change. “This is a pro-fracking company doing all they can to shut down opposition to

fracking. It hasn’t worked though. What’s happened instead is that the ASA has dropped the case without ruling. “We continue to campaign against fracking, alongside local people, because the

process of exploring for and extracting shale gas is inherently risky for the environment, this is why fracking is banned or put on hold in so many countries.”