Natascha Engel, UK’s shale gas commissioner of six months has handed in her resignation, calling the earthquake rules adopted by the government “ridiculous” and an effective “ban on fracking.” The rules, according to a BBC report , stipulate a suspension of fracking activities if an earthquake with a magnitude of 0.5 on the Richter scale is detected. Engel, an ex-MP from the Labour Party, argues this is “really ridiculously low.” She told the BBC it had been clear from the start that if this limit was not increased, fracking would struggle to take off. The now former top fracking officials also said the resignation had been prompted by the “terrible paralysis” the UK government had put itself into by taking the earthquake rules to an extreme. “The profile of environmentalism has really been raised and I think the need to reduce our carbon emissions is absolutely urgent and fracking […]