http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-33313084
A nice simple story – a council in Lancashire has stopped energy firm Cuadrilla from going ahead with fracking plans. This is a useful example of Pressure Group action, but a more important example of th epressure and momentum set by a New Social Movement. If you read this article, there is not one co-ordinated effort from one pressure group to stop fracking from going ahead. Instead there are references to ‘anti-fracking protesters’ as well as to Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. The site does have a page on the ‘frack-off’ website which tries to co-ordinate the movement somewhat but even this is more grassroots than top down, encouraging people to take action and giving them advice on how and where. Equally, there is a residents’ group called Frack Free Lancashire which has staged protests against fracking in the area. With no one central movement, this is a good example of a NSM and a great example of a success which is often hard to come by!
lgspolitics 