PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Shale gas drilling in France won’t be permitted until a complete assessment of potential environmental damage is carried out, French Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said Wednesday (23rd March 2011). Speaking in parliament, the minister said people living in the areas where drilling is planned could be consulted, adding that shale gas operations in the U.S. raise questions over their environmental impact. Earlier this month Prime Minister Francois Fillon said shale gas drilling in France would be suspended until the government receives two studies it has commissioned on the economic, social and environmental impact of these operations, which are due in June. Several French and foreign companies, including power group GDF Suez SA ( GSZ.FR), oil major Total SA (TOT), U.S.-based energy group Schuepbach Energy LLC and U.S.-based Toreador Resources Corp. (TRGL), have expressed an interest in developing the shale gas industry in the country, which is still in the early exploration stage. However, the French government is facing an outcry from environmentalists and opposition from some local authorities.
Continue the outcry: Say NO to Shale Gas!!!
So, NKM is now offering new regulations to enforce public consultation before exploration permits are given. Read more
Just remember, consultation doesn’t necessarily equate to denial of a permit.
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But we cannot afford to be complacent, rest on our laurels and assume that the assessment process will come to the ‘right’ conclusion. The gas industry will be lobbying ferociously to persuade politicians that they can do the job cleanly, and will continue to make claims for the product and the technology which are not true and will not make it safe. Remember they have millions invested and will make billions (literally) so they will stop at nothing to make their case.
Our job now is to keep the pressure on to ensure that the assessment is not unduly swayed by the gas lobby. This includes scrutiny of the appointees to the assessment panel, establishing its terms of reference, discovering the time frame, finding out how to feed evidence into the process – and probably a whole lot more.