More People Prefer to live near a Wind Farm as Opposed to Fracking Site

About three to one persons in Britain would rather live near a wind farm as opposed to a fracking site, according to an opinion poll that was released today.

The study clashes with the stand taken by the Conservative leaders, who are reported to be planning a moratorium that will block installation of more wind farms as part of its 2015 campaign pledges.

The party is advocating for the development of hydraulic fracturing, or more commonly fracking, a controversial technique for extracting oil and natural gas that involves pumping in sand, water and chemicals into shale rocks at high pressure to break them and release trapped fossil fuels.

The poll was done by YouGov and commissioned by Ecotricity, a wind energy firm associated with Dale Vince, a renewable energy entrepreneur. The sample involved 2,000 respondents; of which 62 percent preferred wind turbines as opposed 19 percent who supported fracking.

Interestingly, half of respondents who considered themselves Conservative supporters revealed that they favored living next to a wind farm, reported the Financial Times.

The government is backing fracking to help Britain cut reliance on foreign energy imports, cut down household bills and lower gas prices. However, opposition from local communities and environmentalists has frustrated exploration activities.

“If the Conservatives believe that wind energy is worth opposing because it is unpopular, who do they think it is unpopular with? The government’s own polling clearly shows they can’t be thinking about the general population,” said Mr Vince.

The government said in January that councils will retain 100 percent of the rates raised from fracking activities. It is also reported to be looking at modifying the trespass law to allow oil firms to frack on private land.

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