On Thursday, Britain lifted its moratorium on fracking for shale gas, pointing to the nation’s pressing energy needs.

Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said in an announcement that, “strengthening our energy security is an absolute priority” and that the nation has to “realize any potential sources of domestic gas.”

The process of fracking, in which shale rock is shattered with high pressure liquids so fuels can be more efficiently extracted, was banned in 2019, over a belief the process was triggering earthquakes. The government had noted that at a fracking site in Lancashire more than 120 minor earthquakes were recorded, although it was noted most were so weak residents were unable to feel them. However in 2011 in Blackpool, residents were awoken in the middle of the night by a magnitude 2.3 earthquake which was attributed to nearby fracking operations.

Prime Minister Liz Truss promised fracking would only be allowed in communities where the residents supported it.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) released a report noting that since so little fracking has been performed in the UK, it, “remains challenging” to try to determine the relationship of the fracking activities to the generation of earthquakes.

Nations in Europe are scrambling to acquire natural gas as the winter approaches, and Russia has severely limited its flow to the bloc.