Only 16% people surveyed by Business
and Energy Department supported fracking compared with 21% last year. Above,
anti-fracking protesters at Little Plumpton near the Fylde coast, Lancashire,
England. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
The Guardian
Press Association
3 AUGUST 2017
Government research finds drastic
drop in people backing drilling for shale gas since the study was launched in
2012
Public support for fracking has reached a record low,
according to the latest government research.
A survey by the Business and Energy Department showed
just 16% supported the controversial process of shale gas extraction, down from
21% last year and the lowest since the study was launched five years ago.
Just 13% of the 2,000 people questioned said they knew
a lot about fracking, with just under half knowing “a little.”
Groups opposed to fracking said the findings showed
that the industry was pulling energy policy in the wrong direction.
Elisabeth Whitebread, energy campaigner at Greenpeace
UK, said public opinion on fracking continued to “freefall”, adding:
“Communities don’t want the unnecessary industrialisation of our countryside
for shale gas we don’t need.
“More than three-quarters of people support
renewables, so the government should listen to their own opinion polls, stay
true to their manifesto promise and support offshore wind and solar instead of
a new fossil fuel industry.
“Concern about climate change is at its highest since
2012, and to meet our climate targets, we must leave fossil fuels in the
ground. The fracking industry is pulling UK energy policy in entirely the wrong
direction and the public is right to be concerned.”
Rose Dickinson, Friends of the Earth campaigner, said:
“This makes bad reading for the industry because they know they are desperately
fighting an unwinnable battle for support.
“The extent to which this industry has failed to win
over the public is undeniable. Opposition is increasing not only where fracking
is proposed, but across the whole country.”…
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