Long-running government survey drops usual polling showing support for renewable energy, for first time
British public support for nuclear power and shale gas has fallen to its lowest ever level in a long-running official government survey, which has also briefly ceased polling showing widespread public support for renewable energy.
Nuclear and fracking for shale gas are key planks of the Conservative government’s energy policy, but the polling published on Tuesday shows just one in five people now support shale gas and one in three support nuclear.
Government sources warned last week that fracking plans could be delayed for 16 months after Lancashire county council rejected applications by shale gas company Cuadrilla to drill and frack wells in Fylde.
Plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley in Somerset have also come under fire recently, with the Conservative peer Lord Howell of Guildford warning of rising costs of the “elephantine” project and HSBC criticising the £25bn cost for Hinkley’s new reactors.
Green campaigners and renewable trade bodies said the polling showed the government was at odds with the public.
Daisy Sands, Greenpeace UK head of energy, said: “The government’s own survey shows ministers’ priorities on energy are at the polar opposite of what the British public wants. Popular technologies like wind and solar are having their support axed, whilst the more-unpopular-than-ever fracking industry keeps getting preferential treatment.”
Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/04/public-support-for-uk-nuclear-shale-gas-falls-new-low
British public support for nuclear power and shale gas has fallen to its lowest ever level in a long-running official government survey, which has also briefly ceased polling showing widespread public support for renewable energy.
Nuclear and fracking for shale gas are key planks of the Conservative government’s energy policy, but the polling published on Tuesday shows just one in five people now support shale gas and one in three support nuclear.
Government sources warned last week that fracking plans could be delayed for 16 months after Lancashire county council rejected applications by shale gas company Cuadrilla to drill and frack wells in Fylde.
Plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley in Somerset have also come under fire recently, with the Conservative peer Lord Howell of Guildford warning of rising costs of the “elephantine” project and HSBC criticising the £25bn cost for Hinkley’s new reactors.
Green campaigners and renewable trade bodies said the polling showed the government was at odds with the public.
Daisy Sands, Greenpeace UK head of energy, said: “The government’s own survey shows ministers’ priorities on energy are at the polar opposite of what the British public wants. Popular technologies like wind and solar are having their support axed, whilst the more-unpopular-than-ever fracking industry keeps getting preferential treatment.”
Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/04/public-support-for-uk-nuclear-shale-gas-falls-new-low
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