Climate Changed
Britain’s Fracking Dream Is Fading Fast
- Industry commissioner quit after six months on the job
- Protestors are gaining more traction on environmental issues
The Cuadrilla Resources Preston New Road pilot gas well near Blackpool, U.K.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Britain’s quest to tap domestic supplies of shale gas is looking increasingly bleak as the government’s liaison between the industry and local communities resigned after just six months in the job.
Natascha Engel left the government appointed job telling a newspaper that the U.K.’s policy on hydraulic fracturing technology is being driven by environmental protesters and not scientific evidence. Those efforts resulted in some of the strictest regulations for the industry, which pumps fluid and sand under high pressure to stimulate gas flows from otherwise untappable rock formations.