Opposition to shale gas extraction flared up in the tiny village of Balcombe, England on Sunday as hundreds marched on an oil exploration site in protest at the drilling process known as ‘fracking’.   Activists are concerned the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process used to extract gas from rocks underground can trigger small earthquakes and pollute water supplies.  http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/08/18/world/europe/18reuters-britain-fracking-protest.html?hp  Local campaigners and a group opposed to fracking, Frack Off, have been protesting at the site since drilling started in July. At one of two “family friendly” activist camps, a volunteer said they had been feeding up to 500 people per day.

Banner-waving men, women and children traveled in by buses and bikes to join locals in a mile-long trek, surrounded by police, towards a drilling operation run by Cuadrilla Resources in the picturesque English county of West Sussex.
Groups orchestrating the protest said it would be followed by two days of “direct action” on Monday and Tuesday. Acting on police advice, Cuadrilla on Friday said it was suspending drilling due to the protests.

Campaign group Friends of the Earth argues British shale production would not be significant enough on its own to cut energy bills across the EU-wide market, and rising global demand would soak up any extra production.