Why is Huhne still shunning shale?

Chris Huhne’s article in the Telegraph this morning attacking those who think that shale gas can solve Britain’s energy needs is built around a straw man of an argument. Huhne claims that, ‘Some therefore argue that we should abandon everything else and devote ourselves wholly to shale.’ This is, to put it mildly, a dubious claim. Advocates of shale gas don’t want to abandon all other forms of energy, they just want Britain to properly exploit an energy resource which could be as significant for Britain as North Sea oil has been.

The Energy Secretary’s aversion to shale is even more puzzling when you consider how keen he is for imported gas, coming from some of the most geo-strategically unpredictable places in the world, to emerge as ‘the back-up’ to renewables.