Speaking to Carbon Brief at the COP21 climate conference in Paris, Dr James Hansen, one of the world’s most prominent climate scientists, has strongly criticised the UK government’spursuitof fracking for shale gas.
Asked what he thought of the UK government’s policy of seeking to copy the US’s fracking revolution, Hansen said:
Hansen, the former director of the NASAGoddard Institute for Space Studieswho famouslywarnedthe US Congress about global warming in 1988, also responded to Carbon Brief’s questions about other areas of UK energy policy, such as the proposed newHinkley Cnuclear plant Somerset (“more expensive than it should be”),carbon capture and storage(“a mirage”) and thereining backon support for renewables.
Asked if he thought there were risks switching from coal to gas, Hansen said:
The full audio of Hansen’s comments to Carbon Brief is on Soundcloud.