The Guardian: Owen Paterson: fracking would be boon for poorest parts of the UK
Fracking could be a financial boon to poor and remote parts of the UK, according to former environment secretary and climate change sceptic Owen Paterson.
The Conservative MP, sacked by David Cameron in July, also said the government was losing the battle to develop shale gas to a very powerful “green blob” of environmental campaigners.
Paterson’s remarks will intensify the fierce debate over shale gas exploration and echo the controversy that followed Conservative peer Lord Howell when he said in 2013 that “desolate areas” such as the north-east of England should be fracked. Paterson was giving a lecture on Tuesday at the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a climate sceptic group led by former Tory chancellor Lord Lawson.
Paterson said the UK’s legally binding target to cut climate-warming carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 was impossible to meet and should be scrapped. He dismissed most renewable energy as unable to keep the lights on and instead advocated shale gas, though he said fracking faced intense opposition.