Friday 8 November 2019

Proportion of UK public opposed to fracking hits all-time high

The proportion of UK citizens opposed to fracking reached an all-time high of 44% in September 2019.

That’s according to the latest BEIS Public Attitudes Tracker, which is now on its 31st wave of finding out what the UK public think about a variety of energy issues.

The report shows opposition to the controversial method of shale gas extraction has gradually increased from 21% over the course of the tracker - the latest surge of opposition coincides with the government's recent announcement that fracking will not be allowed to proceed in the UK.

In the latest wave of the tracker, support for fracking reached its lowest point ever at 11%, from its base level of 27% in December 2013, while proportion of people that say they neither support nor oppose fracking fell from 47% in June 2019 to 43% in September 2019.

The most common reason for opposing fracking was the loss and destruction of natural environment - 57% of people gave this as the reason they didn't think it should go ahead, while 48% said they were primarily concerned about the risk of earthquakes, the highest proportion that have ever found this objectionable.