Introducing parliament’s new fracking group
MPs have set up a new All-Party Parliamentary Group to look into how the UK should exploit its shale reserves, known as unconventional oil and gas. Getting to the reserves requires controversial fracking – where water is shot at high pressure into rock to crack it and release the reserves. The group’s chair, conservative MP Dan Byles, says the debate has suffered from “hyperbole on both sides”, with the new group aiming to “separate the facts from the ill-informed speculation”.
While the group has no official power in parliament, it will provide a place for interested MPs to meet and discuss the subject, and comprises twenty MPs from all major parties. Byles says the group is made up of “MPs who are in favour of developing a domestic shale gas industry, MPs who are opposed, and MPs who simply want to better understand the truth”.
In favour
Unsurprisingly for a group of MPs volunteering for extra-curricular discussions on shale reserves, the core of the group see further investment in the UK’s shale gas industry as a generally positive move.
Byles says shale gas is “useful, but not game changing”. In a lengthy blog post on ConservativeHome he outlines what he expects to be the “major benefits” of shale gas for the UK, among them a reduction in the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Group officers Chris Pincher and Nigel Mills have both argued that shale gas could be good for the UK’s energy independence. Steve Baker also thinks it’s a good idea as it could make energy cheaper, and reposts a statement by the Global Warming Policy Foundation on his website arguing that shale gas has economic benefits over renewable alternatives.
And it’s not just Conservatives – a couple of Labour group members are also in favour. Graham Stringer says it has the potential to create jobs and lower fuel prices. Energy and climate change committee member Albert Owen thinks shale gas could sit alongside nuclear in the UK’s energy mix – saying it has the “potential to be a game-changer”.
Against
The group’s lone voice against fracking is Liberal Democrat MP Tessa Munt who is “very worried about George Osborne’s dash for gas“, and is determined that there should be no fracking in her Mendips constituency. She says:
“He seems to have been dazzled by the promises of the shale gas companies and the experience of the United States. In fact no one knows how much shale gas there is in the UK but most estimates say it is of a much smaller scale than in America. But more importantly if we take this road it will lead us to breaking our climate change commitments, watering down investment in renewable technology and continuing our reliance on a diminishing fossil fuel.”
She argues that investing in renewables is better for the environment and economy. She may find herself in the minority in this group.
Anti-wind
There is also a strong anti-wind power contingent. Eight of the 20 members signed a letter calling for an end to wind subsidies.
There’s the familiar figure of Chris Heaton-Harris, star of a Greenpeace sting revealing he supported anti-wind candidate James Delingpole in the recent Corby byelection. Group chair Byles also signed the letter.
The remaining MPs don’t seem to have made strong statements either way.
All-in-all, as you might expect, this new group appears weighted in favour of those who are keen on exploring the UK’s shale reserves and are less keen on renewables.
The group will serve as a forum where these MPs with a particular interest in one of the more controversial aspects of UK energy policy can informally discuss new developments – and perhaps provide the “serious debate” on shale gas Byles is hoping for. If successful in that ambition, the new group will be a much-needed addition to the energy debate landscape.