Fracking should be permitted in Britain because the risk of earthquakes and water contamination is minimal, a government-ordered report has found. Scientists from the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society said the controversial method of extracting natural gas from shale should be given the go-ahead, subject to tight regulations and continuous monitoring of drilling sites. --Nick Collin,
The Daily Telegraph, 29 June 2012
Can the green lobby win the shale gas argument over environmental objections? I don’t think it can. Ten or 20 years ago it could have won when governments were willing to burn billions, but the economic climate has changed, we’re facing the biggest crisis in decades. No government in the world would give up this opportunity, not even the British government, which is very green indeed. I don’t think they have a leg to stand on when it comes to shale. –Benny Peiser,
The Greens Have Been Trumped, 25 October 2011
Cheap and abundant shale gas is a competitive threat to all forms of renewable energy – and also to the coal and nuclear industry. Vested interests have turned against shale, using flawed and misleading environmental arguments to protect their market share. David Cameron would be well advised not to allow his green minister to squander Britain's golden shale gas opportunity. --Benny Peiser,
Public Service Europe, 27 September 2012
The campaign to stop shale gas proving its case in the market is political, not scientific. Behind it lies vested interests. The Russian gas industry, which is alarmed at losing its impending near-monopoly on European gas supplies, has been vocal in its criticism of shale gas. The coal and nuclear industries too would like to see this baby strangled at birth, but have been less high-profile. Most of the opposition, though, has come from those with a vested interest in renewable energy, including the big environmental pressure groups, which are alarmed that the rich subsidies paid to wind, biomass and solar may be under threat if gas gets too cheap and cuts carbon emissions too effectively. --Matt Ridley,
The Times, 18 April 2012
With nice timing – but largely ignored by the media – is a report out today by the Committee on Climate Change, a statutory body set up to advise the UK government on greenhouse gas emissions. It urges the government to give up on its "dash for gas" in order to help avoid dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions. But there are plenty of legitimate environmental concerns, too, not least that the climate risks have yet to be fully analysed or face democratic scrutiny. And there are worries that fracking will likely hinder or damage the fledgling renewables sector. --Leo Hickman,
The Guardian, 29 June 2012
