Shale Gas Extraction Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Cat Smith
Main Page: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)Department Debates - View all Cat Smith's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(2 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
Quite properly, the concerns of this House are being represented by Members of Parliament, so they are being listened to by His Majesty’s Government.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
It appears that the only person who believes that fracking will lower our gas prices is the Secretary of State. That view is certainly not backed up by anyone in industry, and there is no question over the environmentally damaging nature of fracking. However, one thing that he is perhaps not aware of is the strength of opposition to fracking in communities such as mine in Lancashire, where sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre have seen huge police presences just to manage the protesting. There is no public support for fracking, so will he make it very clear whether my constituents will be given a decision on whether fracking happens in Lancashire?
Mr Rees-Mogg
A number of people have said that fracking is environmentally unfriendly, but it is more friendly than importing liquefied natural gas from abroad—it has a lower carbon footprint, and that is fundamentally important. I am well aware that there have been objections to fracking, but I would also note that there have been stories, widely reported, that some of the opposition to fracking has been funded by Mr Putin’s regime.