10:37 Monday 13th January 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
[A]NDIE HARPER: The Government is offering councils that give the green light to fracking increased tax incentives worth millions of pounds. Now it comes as the French oil and gas giant Total says it’s become the first major energy company to invest in Britain’s shale and gas industry. Minister Michael Fallon explained how local authorities would benefit.
(TAPE)
MICHAEL FALLON: Instead of going to central government, it will get money to spend on local services that could amount to £1.75 million pounds per well site. They’re also being offered, by the operators today, 1% of the revenues once the well starts to flow, and that could be quite significant. That could be five, six, ten million pounds per well head.
(LIVE)
ANDIE HARPER: Nick Butler the head of Cambridge University’s Centre for Energy Studies isn’t convinced that this will be enough to overcome opposition.
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NICK BUTLER: I don’t think that just giving them a little bit more of the revenue is going to change the minds of those people. I think you need very clear and simple trustworthy regulation, yet at the moment it looks rather complex. I think if you had that, then the exploration would go ahead, we’d see what resource there is, and what it would cost.
(LIVE)
ANDIE HARPER: Joining me is the Cambridge-based environmental campaigner and writer Tony Juniper. Tony, good morning to you.
TONY JUNIPER: Good morning Andy.
ANDIE HARPER: So Nick Butler not convinced that this money being handed over to local authorities will convince opposition. What about you?
Continue reading “Tony Juniper On Fracking”