May 2019
Featured in this insight: Oil & gas
Public support for fracking at its lowest ever level: A recent government survey has found that public support for fracking is at its lowest ever level, with just 12% in favour of extracting shale gas from the earth via drilling.
The BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker found that the number of people opposed to fracking rose five percentage points to 40%this quarter compared to 35% recorded at the end of 2018.
Tho survey questioned 2,000 adults across the UK in the poll, which also sought to guage options around energy and climate change.
The region with the highest number of people opposed to fracking was the north west of England with exactly half of those polled revealing their opposition. The lowest level was in London where 30% were against it.
Asking respondents about their reasons for opposing fracking, the top answer was the destruction of the natural environment, followed by risk of earthquakes and contamination of water supplies.
Surprisingly, 22% of people said they had never heard of fracking.
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