Activists from Friends of the Earth Europe posed as an imaginary energy company, Drill4All, and set up a fake drilling rig outside the European Commission today, to pretend shale gas was extracted in the centre of Brussels and highlight the possible negative environmental and local impacts of Europe’s dash for unconventional gas.
The European Commission is currently working on legislation to better regulate the development of unconventional gas in Europe. Drill4All were there to greet participants as they arrived to hear the results of a European public consultation which forms part of the European Commission’s risk assessment.
The fictional energy company Drill4All said: “Do you think Europe is digging itself into a climate ditch? Well we’re here to frack Europe out. Why waste valuable time and subsidies on long-term sustainable solutions, when a quick and easy fix is at hand?”
Bottled water was provided to participants as they entered the Commission, to stress the danger of drinking water being pollution in drilling areas. A ‘public notice’ was served to passers-by and participants, which provided very little information, reflecting the lack of environmental standards and assessments required by current EU legislation for shale gas drilling in Europe.
Despite a massive push from the Polish government (half of the responses came from Poland), the public consultation showed significant opposition to shale gas in Europe, and a high degree of scepticism about the role of shale gas in achieving Europe’s climate and environmental goals.
“Significant impacts on the environment and people’s health are almost unavoidable and because too many unknowns still surround shale gas, we believe that, as a minimum, further independent studies should be conducted before taking any decision and the highest environmental standards should be put in place in case a simple ban couldn’t be passed at the EU level,” said Antoine Simon, shale gas campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe. “Otherwise, this legislative process would just end up with weak legislation full of gaps and shortcomings that would pave the way to massive environmental and health impacts”.
Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns against shale gas extraction. The extraction of unconventional gas, including shale gas, poses a significant threat to the climate, the environment and to local communities. It will lock Europe into fossil fuel use, jeopardising emissions reduction targets and preventing investments into genuine solutions – from the development of community renewable energy resources to low energy buildings, and energy savings.
