Commenting on Government plans to give tax breaks to the shale gas industry, Friends of the Earth’s Head of Campaigns, Andrew Pendleton said:

“Promising tax hand-outs to polluting energy firms that threaten our communities and environment, when everyone else is being told to tighten their belts, is a disgrace.

“Ministers should be encouraging investors to develop the nation’s huge renewable energy potential. This would create tens of thousands of jobs and wean the nation off its increasingly expensive fossil fuel dependency.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The Chancellor has already gifted £2bn in tax breaks to polluters over the last year alone.