Forbes: Why is Spain Pushing Back on Shale?

Spain pushed back against European shale with a local vote in the northern region of Cantabria mounted a vote against the practice of hydraulic fracking amid mounting concerns about its environmental impact.

While the vote is only a local effort, the region possesses the largest potential reserve of shale gas in the country, effectively removing the Spain’s surest bet for domestic production and outside investment from the table.  In addition to hosting the largest potential reserves in Spain, Cantabria benefits from easy access to water resources in a country often struggling with shortages – vital component of any shale extraction effort.

Further, the vote was proposed the local branch of the center-right Partido Popular (PP) or People’s Party, which would traditionally not present an environmental argument against the practice. But they did and they did so with the full backing of the local government. The vote was unanimous.

In early March, Spain’s Council of Mining Engineers outlined Spain’s shale potential with a report that suggested as much as 50 trillion cubic feet or enough to meet about 39 years of domestic demand. What’s more, a boost in domestic production could help ease expensive imports and maybe even help drive down or consumer prices. While not likely considering the country’s artificially low prices, but that was the argument.  MORE