Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Desmond Swayne
Main Page: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)Department Debates - View all Desmond Swayne's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(6 years ago)
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Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
How come we have been using exactly the same technology without difficulty, fracking at hundreds of sites, for years for thermal energy?
Claire Perry
My right hon. Friend makes a valuable point. It is said that fracking is this new thing, but in fact we have been doing it for many years, including using it to extract oil from sites close to both of our constituencies. It is a perfectly safe technology. We have to be clear, however, that we are doing this in an environmentally sensitive way. Of course nobody wants environmental regulations that they cannot defend to their constituents, but we are going through this calmly and soberly; we have excellent science and so far the process is delivering shale gas from these very exploratory fracks, which is something we should all welcome.