European Shale: Will The Last Energy Commissioner Standing Turn Out The Lights? by Matthew Hulbert, October 8, 2012, Natural Gas Europe
The iron law of politics is if you have nothing sensible to say, it’s best not to say anything. European Energy Commissioner, Günther Oettinger has never been particularly good at that, but managed to come out with his ‘best line’ ever last week in Ireland: Europe shouldn’t do anything on shale for at least five to ten years until local environmental risks are fully understood. Circa 2022, Europe can finally get fracking.
Although the Commissioner has since claimed that his comments weren’t quite that categorical, the point here isn’t to trivialise local environmental concerns from shale gas that should (and indeed are) being taken increasingly seriously…. [Emphasis added]