RFI: France may permit shale gas exploitation, Prime Minister Ayrault says

France’s Socialist government may permit the exploitation of shale gas, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Wednesday. But, he added, it would be on condition that it did not lead to pollution or environmental damage.

France’s previous right-wing government at first issued 64 permits but then reversed its stance and banned shale gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking”, after an outcry over its alleged effects on the environment.  MORE