UK Government Called to Foster Public Acceptance of Shale Gas
Shale gas is increasingly popular among politicians ruling the United Kingdom. But unfortunately for shale enthusiastic, population sees things differently. At the moment, people do not want unconventional hydrocarbons. Hydraulic fracturing scares Britons to death. That is the reality.
According to a new poll by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) published on Wednesday, for any person that would be happy to see shale gas developments within 10 miles of their home, there are more than three people that would not.
In other words, ‘47% of people would not be happy for a gas well site using fracking to open within 10 miles of their home, compared to just 14% who said they would be happy.’
IME, the organization representing mechanical engineers in the United Kingdom, does prove the scorn of the population for shale gas. According to its results, people don’t want it. They would rather prefer other measures to increase energy security.
‘The poll also found that only 30% of people have a good understanding of what fracking is, compared with 40% who said they had ‘some’ understanding and 30% who said they had little or no understanding,’ reads the note.
The survey is worthy of attention, but it does not add much to the discussion. Public resistance is well known to operators and politicians. The opposition to British shale gas is so widespread that also emerged on the other side of the continent: on the best catwalks of Milan.
“Fracking is the Big Fight. In England we must all challenge the irresponsible behaviour of our governments who are trying to force fracking upon us with no consideration of alternatives. The public must be informed. One thing is sure: At this point in time we must think before we rush into further action to fracture our Earth,” reads a document during the fashion show by Vivienne Westwood in Milan.
In a sense, the designer who brought modern punk into the mainstream is right. Politicians see shale gas as a trumpet card and they did not offer many alternatives to people. But now, before launching explorations, they have to obtain people’s support. The process will not be trivial.
Governments and companies have to work hard if they want public opinion to become favourable. Complimentary policies are needed to win public backing to fracking. As said by IGas’ CEO Andrew Austin, community benefits will not be a “game-changer” for swinging public support. The payment of almost £1 billion will not be enough to change protesters’ mind.
OTHER POLLS: MIXED EVIDENCE ABOUT PUBLIC SUPPORT
Recent surveys sent similar messages.
A report by a research team at the University of Nottingham noted that 33.5% of respondents thought of shale gas as clean, while 36.5% believed the opposite. But the report released in August added something extremely interesting. It revealed that people increasingly endorsed shale gas over the period March 2012 – July 2013.
‘The number of people who associate shale gas with being a ‘cheap fuel’ has risen from 40.5% in the first survey to 55% now, and the positive rating for shale,’ reads the note released by the University.
But that is just one part of the story.
“This does not entail that shale gas is a widely popular alternative to other forms of energy, although it remains to be seen whether that will change if the current movement in the climate of opinion continues,” O’Hara explained in August.
Months passed and the trend reversed. The poll conducted by the University of Nottingham in September did indeed detect a U-turn: protests in Sussex appear to have decreased the support for shale gas over the summer. The last poll by the research team led by O’Hara left no room for doubt. Public is not about to budge so easily.
OTHER DIFFICULTIES: LOCAL POLITICIANS
It will be difficult to solve this jigsaw in the short term, also because population’s fears easily turn into local politicians’ scepticism. Comprehensibly, MPs are scared to lose their electorate.
It comes as no surprise that they are the first to embrace population’s stance on shale gas. As written in August, local politicians are reasonably more cautious than their colleagues working in London, as they maintain stronger links with the constituencies.
That is why the puzzle remains extremely difficult. Despite some major industry’s achievements in the last months, uncertainties are definitely not over. As suggested by Vivienne Westwood, fracking will be a big fight. Investors, politicians, population and environmentalists can at least all agree on this.
Sergio Matalucci