I LOVE IT! – BRITAIN STRIKES GOLD, KNOWN AS OIL – AT 9:02 A.M. ET:   From London's Daily Mail: 

Billions of barrels of oil have been found in the ground beneath the south of England, according to a report out today.

The official analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS) revealed the vast scale of energy reserves lying under parts of Sussex, Hampshire and Kent.

The BGS report, commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate Change and released this morning, estimates that there are 4.4billion barrels-worth of oil in the ground under the Weald Basin in Kent and parts of Sussex and Surrey.

How much of this is recoverable is not yet known - further drilling and testing of new wells will be needed to establish this, but the discovery is set to spark a new stage in the battle between environmentalists and energy firms over the controversial topic of fracking.

Green MP Caroline Lucas condemned news of the findings as 'disastrous' from a climate change perspective in general, and for those living in the south east in particular.

COMMENT:  Yeah, right.  Those people might actually have a stable, booming economy.  Must avoid that.  Not good for Marxist ideology.

This could be a great moment for Britain, if the country can balance the obvious economic and energy benefit with thoughtful environmental protections.

May 23, 2014