Dutch News: Opponents are winning the Dutch shale gas war

Support for extracting shale gas from under the Netherlands is fading and an increasing number of local councils are taking a stand, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday.

So far, 33 of the country’s 400 local authority areas have declared they are opposed to shale gas extraction, the paper says. Some 170 councils are thought to be sitting on shale or coal gas reserves.

The Netherlands’ shale gas reserves could run into billions of euros but it is unclear if the gas will ever be extracted because of the well-organised opposition, the paper says. In addition, national politicians are staying out of the debate, pending the results of a major report into shale gas extraction.  MORE