“Tell Shell to get the frack out of the Karoo, this is fracking bonkers.” Rhodes University’s Eden Grove was buzzing with fracking puns on Thursday 15 August during a discussion hosted by the Green Society.
“Tell Shell to get the frack out of the Karoo, this is fracking bonkers.” Rhodes University’s Eden Grove was buzzing with fracking puns on Thursday 15 August during a discussion hosted by the Green Society.
It was about the controversial “fracking” process, whereby rock is fractured using highly pressurised liquid. The robust debate, hosted as part of the Rhodes Anti-Fracking Week, was attended by some 50 people and featured four speakers.
They argued whether shale gas exploration should be permitted in the Karoo or not. The first one up was Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) Chairman Jonathan Deal, who argued against fracking exploration.
He said the long-term consequences should be considered above and beyond its short-term economic benefits like job creation and cheaper energy. “If you lose a pair of jeans, they can easily be replaced. If you crash a car, the consequences will be that you’ll be paying for it the next five years or so. The loss of the planet though, that’s a different story,” Deal said.
Gavin Keeton, a Rhodes economics lecturer, presented the financial implications of fracking. He argued for the idea of fracking, making his point by saying, “I love the Karoo and the people who live in it, but I hate poverty”.
Professor Paul Walters from the Rhodes English department made a passionate plea against fracking exploration. “The Karoo is one of our last sacred places in this country,” he said. The final speaker was journalist and columnist Ivo Vegter who agitated against both organised structures on either side of the fracking debate.
Vegter is sceptical of the intentions and arguments of the shale gas explorers and anti-fracking environmentalists. “We can only know the worst if we explore,” he said.
