Shale Gas Extraction Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateMatt Rodda
Main Page: Matt Rodda (Labour - Reading Central)Department Debates - View all Matt Rodda's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(1 year, 11 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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The hon. Gentleman is wrong to say that I dislike those technologies. I actually think that pumped hydro is a particularly interesting technology, because it can be used with wind power to act, effectively, as a battery. So there is support for these technologies. In this urgent question we are discussing shale gas, but that does not mean that my Department is not looking at all forms of energy. We need a wide range of supply, we need security of supply and we need supply that is cheap, or as cheap as we can get it.
Residents across the south of England are deeply concerned about the risks of fracking and oil drilling. Why is the Secretary of State not listening to those concerns, or to the concerns of the Government’s former chief scientific adviser and the British Geological Survey?
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.