France to ban all new oil and gas exploration in renewable energy drive, ‘Ecological transition’ minister says law will be passed later this year

Macron meets Schwarzenegger and vows to stop oil and gas licences, In a dig at Trump’s climate change inaction, French president welcomes the green campaigner and says there will be ‘no new exploration licences’
by James Murray for BusinessGreen, 26 June 2017, The Guardian

The new French government has sought to further burnish its green credentials with the announcement it is to stop granting licences for new oil and gas exploration.

In his first major intervention since Emmanuel Macron’s election victory, the ecological transition minister, Nicolas Hulot, told the broadcaster BFMTV there would be “no new exploration licences for hydrocarbons”.

Hulot said the government would extend Macron’s promised moratorium on fracking projects to cover all oil and gas exploration. He also hinted that the government would increase taxes on diesel and look to streamline decision-making on environmental issues so they could be made “faster”.

Hulot faces a daunting in-tray to deliver on Macron’s wide-ranging environmental manifesto, which promised a sharp increase in renewables’ investment, a huge renovation programme to improve the efficiency of French homes, and an acceleration of the deployment of zero-emission vehicles.

The comments came as Hulot and Macron met the former Californian governor and climate change campaigner Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss plans for a new global pact to give people a mechanism for securing environmental justice.

In a short video posted on Twitter, both Macron and Schwarzenegger aimed a swipe at President Trump as they vowed to work together to “make the planet great again”.

Macron said a new pact that builds on international human right legislation could help “move on to a new stage after the Paris accord”. The new pact could be presented to the UN as early as this September, Macron said.

The proposals were backed by the former French foreign minister and the chair of the Paris summit, Laurent Fabius. “We already have two international [human rights] pacts … The idea is to create a third, for a third generation of rights – environmental rights,” he said.

Schwarzenegger said support for the proposals should cross political lines. “It is absolutely imperative that we not make it a political issue. This is not the right versus the left because there is no liberal air or conservative air. We all breathe the same air. There is no liberal water or conservative water, we all drink the same water.”

The proposed covenants would build on the UN’s earlier human rights covenants covering, social, economic, and cultural rights, and civil and political rights.

France to ban all new oil and gas exploration in renewable energy drive, ‘Ecological transition’ minister says law will be passed later this year by Lizzie Dearden, June 24, 2017, The Independent

France is to stop granting licences for oil and gas exploration as part of a transition towards environmentally-friendly energy being driven by Emmanuel Macron’s government.

Nicolas Hulot, the “ecological transition” minister said a law would be passed in the autumn.

“There will be no new exploration licences for hydrocarbons,” he told BFMTV.

The minister, previously famed in France for his environmental activism and nature documentaries, also outlined proposals to increase the taxation on diesel and to “make decisions faster” to curtail pollution.

Mr Macron said he was opposed to exploration for gas and favoured a ban on fracking during his election campaign, particularly in the overseas territory of French Guiana.

But Mr Hulot was among those warning that any ban would trigger lawsuits from energy companies and saying change must be imposed gradually.

Around 75 per cent of France’s electricity is currently provided by nuclear power stations, with the industry employing around 200,000 people and led by state-owned EDF.

A law was passed last year to reduce the nuclear proportion to 50 per cent by 2025, sparking controversy over potential job losses and the closure of up to 20 reactors.

Mr Macron reinstated his commitment to the law last month but has evaded concrete targets for the ultimate aim of making France run completely on renewable energy.

The President is also planning a huge renovation programme for French homes to reduce energy consumption, cut carbon dioxide emissions, reduce energy poverty and create jobs.

He and Mr Hulot discussed renewable energy schemes and global warming with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor and former Governor of California, as part of his trip to France on Friday.

Mr Schwarzenegger said he was honoured to speak to Mr Macron and ministers about “how we can work together for a clean energy future” and was seen posing with a T-shirt reading “Make Our Planet Great Again” with Mr Hulot.

The Hollywood star has publicly sparred with Donald Trump, a fellow Republican and Apprentice host over climate change and the President’s decision to withdraw the US from the historic Paris accords.

France was among the countries heavily criticising the decision, with the government posting an annotated White House video on social media refuting the President’s claims that the agreement was a “bad deal” for the US.

[Refer also to:

2016 03 02: BETWEEN 7,000 & 15,000 ATTEND ANTI FRACKING RALLY IN FRANCE AFTER ADMINISTRATIVE COURT RE-AWARDS COMPANY 4,327 SQ KM PERMIT

2015 12 31: Another Court Ruling: France will remain frac free

2015 04 07: Frac industry pushing France with old lies to sneak in fracing; Promoting extremely dangerous, toxic, financially ruinous gelled “non-flammable” propane fracs as “safe, clean and green” non-fracs!

2014 04 05: France: Court bans US company Hess from drilling for fear of fracking and cancelled drilling permit despite the company’s promise not to frac

2014 03 04: French energy CEO of energy giant Total says ‘God willing’ France will frack

2014 02 01: France: ‘Clean fracking using untested non-flammable propane’ is Trojan Horse, designed to make fracing seem OK

2013 12 20: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Says It’s Unconstitutional For Gas Companies To Frack Wherever They Want; Act 13, Gas Industry Takeover Law thrown out by State’s Highest Court

“By any responsible account,” Chief Justice Castille wrote, “the exploitation of the Marcellus Shale Formation will produce a detrimental effect on the environment, on the people, their children, and the future generations, and potentially on the public purse, perhaps rivaling the environmental effects of coal extraction.”

2013 11 29: France Says No to Hess Energy Exploration’s Bid to Frac Paris Basin, Report by Lawmakers say France Should Allow Fracking

2013 11 12: French coalbed methane drilling presents risks even without fracking: joint study published by France’s national geological & environmental agencies

2013 10 13: Frackez-vous: French court passes ultimate fracking ban; France’s Fracking Ban ‘Absolute’ After Court Upholds Law, Frac ban in France is constitutional, Judgement: Schuepbach Energy LLC

2013 09 24: French Court to Decide Whether Fracking Ban Is Constitutional

2013 07 14: French president vows no fracking while he is president

2013 07 14: French Fracking Ban Should Be Eased to Assess Shale Reserves

….Energy Minister Delphine Batho rejected any move to relax the ban, citing “considerable” environmental damage in the U.S. caused by the method. Earthquakes, aquifer pollution, heavy metal contamination, increased truck traffic and damage to the countryside are consequences of fracking, the minister said in a radio debate. “The U.S. has invented environmental dumping,” Batho said. “Gas prices in the U.S. don’t take into account the cost of environmental damage that future generations will have to pay.”

2013 06 07: EU Consultation on Unconventional Fossil Fuels in Europe finds many respondents saying shale gas and other unconventional fossil fuels need to be kept out of Europe

2013 05 25: Scientists warn that Earth faces severe water shortages within a generation

2012 08 29: France to Keep Shale Ban Until Fracking Alternative Emerges

2012 08 27: French PM: Shale gas future not settled, The question of tapping of shale gas reserves in France — where hydraulic fracturing is banned — is not yet resolved, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says

2011 07 01: France Vote Outlaws ‘Fracking’ Shale for Natural Gas, Oil Extraction

2011 06 30: France Becomes First Country to Ban Extraction of Natural Gas by Fracking

2011 05 13: France bans ‘fracking’ after months of protest

2011 05 11: France to ban fracking of fossil fuels ]

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