Labour look to tighten shale gas regulations

Labour have announced that they are going to try to tighten regulations for shale gas extraction.

They will do this by tabling 11 amendments to the Infrastructure Bill, which will include closing environmental regulation loopholes. Shadow Energy Minister, Tom Greatrex has explained why:

“Shale gas extraction cannot go ahead unless we have a system of robust regulation and comprehensive inspection. Despite clear flaws in the existing framework, David Cameron’s government have repeatedly side-lined genuine and legitimate environmental concern and seem prepared to accept shale gas at any cost.

“Labour have today proposed the biggest overhaul of the regulations for shale gas to date, introducing requirements for baseline assessments of methane in the groundwater, monitoring of fugitive emissions and independent well inspection among other measures, and we will look to table further amendments ensuring that there are adequate protections for groundwater aquifers.

“While eight out of 10 homes still rely on gas for heating, shale gas may have a role to play in displacing some of the gas we currently import and improving our energy security – it is not about increasing how much gas we use, but where we get it from. But that potential benefit cannot come at the expense of robust environmental protections or our climate change commitments.” 

This comes after Miliband stressed over the weekend that Labour would focus on environmental issues.