“As it stands now this technique is risky for the environment and health and that is why France banned it,” Batho said today in Paris after a meeting between Prime Minister Jean- Marc Ayrault and environmental groups. “The prime minister confirmed we remain opposed to hydraulic fracturing. The position is perfectly clear.”
Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, is widely used in the U.S. The French parliament passed a law last year banning the process because of concern it can pollute drinking water, effectively halting plans by companies including Total SA (FP) to explore for shale gas in southern France. Divisions within the French government surfaced last week after Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg called for a debate on shale resources.
“The government is clearly leaving the door open,” Jean- Francois Julliard, director of Greenpeace France, said today after meeting with Ayrault. “If tomorrow the oil companies have another technique, I think it would be used. This worries us.”
Sand has become a valuable – and deeply divisive – commodity in the upper Midwest. Hydraulic...
When doctors found several tiny nodules on his 12-year-old daughter's thyroid gland, Toshiyuki Kamei refused to...
Future global warming could lead to a significant increase in malaria cases in densely populated regions...
