Energy: Shale Gas Debate

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Lord May of Oxford

Main Page: Lord May of Oxford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Wednesday 17th October 2012

(12 years, 2 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Verma Portrait Baroness Verma
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My noble friend is of course right that the Government are very alert to the possibilities for boosting growth and employment in Lancashire and across the country. If shale gas does prove to be commercially viable, there is every reason to suppose that it will be positive for the economy and employment. However, the industry is at a very early stage of development and we need to make sure that all our commitments to ensuring that it is safe and secure to extract are formally looked at.

Lord May of Oxford Portrait Lord May of Oxford
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The Government are currently on course to fulfil their legally binding commitments under the Climate Change Act—only, however, by virtue of the recession. A second “dash for gas” rather than a speeding up of our decarbonising of electricity generation is flatly inconsistent with the commitments to 2030. Am I correct in assuming that the only way to square this is to maintain the recession, and that that explains some of this?

Baroness Verma Portrait Baroness Verma
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No, my Lords. I think the noble Lord knows from his question that that is not the case. We need to look at a wide range of energy sources and make sure that in the long term we fulfil our commitment to the 2030 target, but also that we utilise new renewable sources .