Fracking poll shows most favour or are agnostic about shale

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An online poll of 1,000 respondents found 36% in favour of shale gas extraction, with a further 24% agnostic and just under 40% opposed.

 

The poll, conducted by Usurv.com on 28th January 2015, asked participants “Should fracking go ahead in the UK?” with four responses to choose from.

The results are available here.

It found that 25% of respondents said yes, fracking should go ahead in the UK.  A further 11% also said yes but qualified this support by saying they wouldn’t want it where they live.

Just over 24% appeared agnostic, saying they didn’t know whether fracking should take place in the UK with slightly under 40% of respondents saying it shouldn’t.

Lee Petts, chief executive of the OESG, said: “This latest poll reaffirms much of what we already know – that support and opposition for shale gas extraction are relatively balanced, with a sizeable proportion of the public undecided or ambivalent either way.

“Like all polls, it’s conducted in the abstract with very little in the way of context for the participants.

“Earlier, more detailed surveys appear to suggest that the more informed people are, particularly about the regulatory oversight and the social, economic and environmental importance of gas in the UK, the more supportive they become.  A Populus survey of 4,000 adults for UK Onshore Oil and Gas, for instance, found 59% of respondents would be willing to see natural gas from shale production go ahead as long as it forms part of a mix that includes renewable energy sources, with only 12% disagreeing.”

The results of the Populus survey are here.