Shale Gas Extraction Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Greg Knight
Main Page: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)Department Debates - View all Greg Knight's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(2 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Rees-Mogg
In relation to seismic activity, there is no particular dissimilarity to that from mining, and mining is not subject to seismic limits.
Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)
Despite what the Secretary of State said, is it not the case that forecasting the occurrence of seismic events as a result of fracking remains a challenge to the experts? Is it not therefore creating a risk of an unknown quantity to pursue shale gas exploration at the present time? Is he aware that the safety of the public is not a currency in which some of us choose to speculate?
Mr Rees-Mogg
Unusually, I disagree with my right hon. Friend. It is all a matter of proportionality. As I pointed out, the movement on ground level from construction is about double that we have had from any instance with shale gas. We know what has happened before. There are not limits on mining. There are not limits on ordinary oil extraction. It is only shale gas that has limits, and there is no evidence that shale gas is worse than any of those other activities. So, I think, on a balance of risks, my right hon. Friend is not coming to the right conclusion.