Reporting of the politics at national and local level of the shale gas and fracking debate
The energy minister, Claire Perry, attended most of a 95-minute meeting with the shale gas industry which she said she had dropped in on, MPs heard this evening.
People have three more weeks to give their views on the Scottish government’s policy not to support fracking.
The energy and clean growth minister, Claire Perry, told the House of Commons today she would go to Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road fracking site and would visit protesters.
The government’s new shale gas commissioner, Natascha Engel, is to meet representatives of residents living near Cuadrilla’s existing and proposed fracking sites in Lancashire.
Conservative and Labour MPs in Lancashire have written to the business secretary, Greg Clark, demanding action following a series of tremors linked to Cuadrilla’s fracking operation near Blackpool.
The Conservative MP whose constituency includes Cuadrilla’s fracking site has urged the government to scrap its proposals designed to speed up shale gas decisions.
The government is seeking views on whether shale gas companies should be required to consult local people before they formally submit plans for an area.
The energy minister, Claire Perry, has revised her “myth buster” about shale gas and fracking, apparently to take account a series of earthquakes near Cuadrilla’s site in Lancashire.
Government proposals designed to speed-up fracking decisions are unclear, inappropriate and unjustified, a group of planning experts have said.
Several shale gas wells in production would be seen as success by the government, according to recently released notes of a round-table meeting between the energy minister and the industry.
DRILL OR DROP? 