Britain to play a full part in the “revolution underway” and criticised environmentalists who were opposed to exploiting the technology. Giving his public backing for plans to exploit the country’s onshore gas reserves – which is expected to be given the go-ahead by the Government very shortly – Mr Cameron said the new technology could transform our energy supplies. But his stance was attacked by climate change scientists and energy experts who warned his dash-to-gas policy was “misleading and dangerous”. --Oliver Wright, Michael McCarthy, Tom Bawden, The Independent, 12 December 2012
I think some in the green movement really want us to rule out gas and opt right now for nuclear plus renewables plus energy efficiency. Zip. That’s it. I think that would be a mistake. It maybe that this gas revolution is really quite transformative and there is going to be a lot more gas and the price won’t be as expensive as some people think. We should take part in fracking because this might be a revolution and if we ignored it completely we could be giving our economy much higher energy prices than would otherwise be necessary. –- Prime Minister David Cameron, 11 December 2012
Can the green lobby win the shale gas battle over environmental objections? I don’t think it can. Ten or twenty years ago it could have won when governments were willing to burn billions, but the economic climate has changed, we’re facing the biggest crisis in decades. No government in the world would give up this opportunity, not even the British government, which is very green indeed. --Benny Peiser, 25 October 2011
Belarus, one of three fossil-fuel reliant states outmanoeuvred at Kyoto pact talks by small island states endangered by climate change, said it may consider quitting the process and Ukraine and Kazakhstan may do the same. An official with the Belarus delegation said he would recommend that Minsk now abandon the treaty, just 48 hours after it was extended. --Andrew Allan and Marton Kruppa, Reuters, 10 December 2012
Three former Soviet nations could leave the Kyoto Protocol as a result of a last minute change to the new terms of the treaty agreed in Doha on Saturday. Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are unhappy with an amendment to the Kyoto treaty at the Doha UN climate talks that means their emissions must remain lower than they were between 2008-2010. They believe this will limit their economic development. A negotiator representing Belarus told Reuters that he would advise his country to leave and that other former Soviet nations could do the same. Canada will officially exit Kyoto later this month having announced its intentions in Durban last year. --John Parnell, RTCC News, 11 December 2012
Is green energy a fad that has run its course? The investment community seems to think so. RENIXX® World, the Renewable Energy Industrial Index of the world’s top green energy companies, hit an all-time low below 146 on November 21, down more than 90 percent from the December 2007 peak. --Steve Goreham, The Washington Times, 6 December 2012
