Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng ruled out future fracking in the UK yesterday amid warnings that the Government would need to raise taxes on gas.
The minister said that too many communities would be disrupted in England and said nuclear and renewables was the answer to the energy crisis.
Warning signs: Kwasi Kwarteng said that too many communities would be disrupted in England and said nuclear and renewables was the answer to the energy crisis
Kwarteng told Conservative Home that he was previously ‘very pro-fracking’. But he added that while he was an energy minister he discovered that fracking was far more disruptive than had been predicted.
The UK government introduced a moratorium on fracking in 2019, banning activity in England with immediate effect. Reflecting on the company Cuadrilla’s attempts to frack in Lancashire, Kwarteng said that ‘walls were shaking and plates were falling off them’.
He added: ‘I think there were too many communities that were being disrupted. We’re a small country. The fact that it can work in the United States, and it works successfully, it’s what a thousand times bigger than England?
‘They would frack in a hundred places, and maybe one would be successful. But we don’t have that luxury here.’ He concluded: ‘So I get the whole fracking thing, but I don’t think it’s the answer. I think more nuclear is the answer.
‘I think a wider range of renewable technology and things like tidal stream can help us as well.’
It came as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned in a new report that taxes on gas should be increased to force homeowners to cut emissions. It also suggested that a tax incentive to reduce the number of flights would help to set the UK on the path to lowering carbon emissions.
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