New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reversing his predecessor Liz Truss’ decision to allow so-called ‘fracking’ of shale gas. That writes business newspaper Financial Times based on insiders. Fracking is controversial in many countries.
This method injects chemicals and crushed stone or sand into the soil under pressure to release gas trapped in the rock. However, because this can pollute groundwater and cause earthquakes, many people see this technique as too dangerous.
Truss had just reversed a ban that was imposed in 2019. With this, she wanted to achieve that the United Kingdom would produce more of its own gas.
During his first question time in the House of Commons, Sunak, who took office on Tuesday, already stated that he supports a 2019 Conservative Party promise to ban fracking. However, a senior policy officer at Sunak confirmed to the Financial Times that the ban is being reinstated.
Former UK Economics and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said that strengthening Britain’s energy supply is “an absolute priority” and that all energy sources must be developed. However, there was a lot of resistance to fracking among the British public. In a poll last year, the British government found that only 17 percent of Britons are interested in fracking.
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