A brief history of the UK’s political debate over shale gas, 2009-2019

The moratorium imposed in 2019 on hydraulic fracturing in England provides an opportunity to take stock and learn lessons from the UK’s decade-long pursuit of a domestic shale gas industry. These lessons will prove valuable in relation to shale gas should the moratorium ever be lifted, but also offer broader insights into the politics of the environment and innovation. These insights relate especially to the infrastructure required as part of the UK’s net zero strategy, irrespective of UK shale policy going forward. This review takes the form of a brief history of the national formal politics of shale gas in the UK over the period 2009-2019, during which so much and yet so little occurred. By UK formal politics, we refer to political action and discourse within the government and legislature of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Distinct formal national political dynamics exist within the devolved governments and parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and are covered elsewhere in this collection (see Cotton 2020).