Last week a comprehensive survey in regards to European views of fracking was published. It explained that, without a doubt, most European are not in favor of fracking.
Also, we yet again find that strange curiosity of human nature in the survey results. The few folks being in favor of fracking suggested that fracking was fine — if it was not in their own backyard, but in another land. Um.
The study reported that fifty percent of people surveyed understood little if anything about fracking. The existing idea that protection can be found with this troubling exploitation of resources is not clarified. Lack of knowledge on a subject makes it easily obscured or confused.
Photo Credit: billb1961 / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
BusinessGreen reports:
The poll of nearly 23,000 individuals, businesses and public authorities was designed to understand attitudes to the development of unconventional fossil fuels, such as shale gas and oil.
Nearly two-fifths of respondents said they did not want these energy sources developed at all in Europe, while a further 29 per cent said it should only be developed if the proper health and environmental safeguards were put in place.
Safeguards? Where are these environmental safeguards? Please educate the rest of us to new standards of safeguards, so we are able to bestow the information with people who have fire coming from water taps. These folks are not alone — we all require more guidance by the energy industry.
Further in the article, it was reported that:
…60 per cent of people were against drilling.
Meanwhile, a separate survey by a UK Market Research company, unveiled on Friday, found that two-fifths of people in the UK are worried about the environmental risks of fracking for shale gas, such as earth tremors and water supply contamination.
Viewsbank interviewed nearly 2,100 adults in the UK in August, a time when high-profile protests against fracking in Sussex were taking place. The UK saw some support for the development of unconventional fossil fuels, with around 15 per cent of people supporting fracking in any case. However, 60 per cent of people were against drilling.
Considering that a slight nine percent of people felt educated about fracking; and a substantial amount, one-quarter of people, had not heard of it before, how does one remark on the unknown? BusinessGreen concludes:
“The fracking debate has been widely aired in the media but it is clear that people do not consider themselves particularly well-informed. Proponents and opponents can both take positives from the research” said David Black of Viewsbank.
“Many remain undecided but there is a definite undercurrent that people are happy to support fracking as long as it is not in their backyard.”
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