Brussels, 14/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament (EP), opposed to the extraction of shale gas, wants a Community debate.
Following a meeting with representatives of NGOs and local groups on Thursday 14 April, Green MEPs Michèle Rivasi and José Bové of France, German Reinhart Bütikofer and Bas Eickhout of the Netherlands, wrote to the European Commission calling for a debate at European level with all interested parties, including representatives of civil society, to be held before summer on shale gas extraction. The Greens are calling on the Commission to ensure that the European Chemicals Agency has access to all the information on the chemicals used in operations so that it can analyse the information and inform the public. The Greens also want an environmental impact study on the ecological footprint and on the greenhouse gases emissions directly or indirectly resulting from these activities. They also call on the Commission to back the demand for a moratorium recently made by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research until the United States Environmental Protection Agency publishes its report on the environmental impact of shale gas. In several European countries, including Germany, Belgium, France the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland, citizens' initiatives opposing shale gas extraction because of its effects on health and the environment have seen the light of day. (E.H./transl.rt)