RECENTLY a colleague at work who lives in one of York’s satellite villages announced: “They’re going to start fracking near where I live. We’re thinking of emigrating.”

Then she laughed. A rueful laugh, admittedly, hinting at disappointed resignation, maybe frustration.

After all, us “little people” in the UK have grown all too accustomed to being ignored by the powerful when it comes to public policy decisions that fundamentally affect our lives.

That small but telling conversation set me thinking about the whole fracking debate.

Is it just me wondering why we’re fracking at all, let alone in beautiful North Yorkshire?

First a few facts. Every major political party in Britain apart from the Conservatives and Ukip is opposed to fracking.

The Tory manifesto before June 8 pledged to change the law so that full-scale fracking applications are removed from elected local councils and dealt with by central government’s Planning Inspectorate.

Locally, the pressure group Frack-Free York have complained that a vertical exploration well is scheduled to be sunk by December 31 in an area to the west, south-west and north-west of York including villages like Wigginton, Rufforth and Askham Bryan.

The company hoping to make sizeable profits from extracting shale gas in the North Yorkshire area, IGAS, have stated: “We are considering our options.”

So far, so unclear. One thing we do know for sure is that the process of fracking is potentially transformational for communities near well pads.

We also know what was said by three companies, Egdon Resources (UK), INEOS Upstream, and Third Energy and Zetland Group, in recent consultations on the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan being produced by City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the North York Moors National Park.

They argued that drilling and fracking should be permitted within 300 metres of people’s homes. In other words, two and a half football pitches length away.

Meanwhile opponents of fracking warn of inevitable air and noise pollution and large increases in HGV traffic. Let alone the visual impact of tall, vertical wells.

They fear the kind of exploration well being proposed near York might serve to normalise fracking and mention instances of water contamination elsewhere in the world.

Of course, there is a wider context. Only climate change deniers and people making handsome profits from fossil fuels believe that we can carry on as a species burning gas and oil without catastrophic effects on the environment.

Google how rapidly the polar ice caps are melting if you don’t believe me.

That is why many people in the UK would prefer to see the money spent on shale gas extraction being pumped into renewable energy sources.

The reality is that Britain is in grave danger of falling behind our European neighbours when it comes to long term government policies designed to cut carbon emissions.

Last week alone France announced it will end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of an ambitious plan to meet its targets under the Paris climate accord.

A day earlier Volvo said it would only manufacture fully electric or hybrid cars from 2019 onwards.

Such bold, necessary initiatives feel almost unimaginable in Britain right now.

Our government appears too obsessed with maintaining austerity and privatisation, clinging onto power at all costs and squabbling over chaotic Brexit negotiations to make the long term investments we surely need.

To me, dabbling with fracking is a symbol of governmental failure. It epitomises the lack of imagination we are applying to energy policies in the UK.

Just because something is technically possible and enriches a few already rich people is not a good enough justification to pursue it.

Surely we should have learned that by now? It is not too late to call time on fracking.

Personally I believe our collective energy should be spent creating truly sustainable energy sources that won’t contribute to global warming and climate change.

For our children’s sake, as well as our own, let’s drill for the green gold of a cleaner planet.