Associate Professor School of Law, Bennett University,Plot Nos 8-11, TechZone 2, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201310
Abstract
The global natural gas industry has been revitalized with the production of natural gas from shale formations,which has ushered a new era in the production of energy and its trade.In the recent past in the US, an increasingly important source of natural gashas been Shale Gas. Shale exploration poses several risks to the environment,especially on the availability of drinking water, problems to irrigation, effecting the aquatic habitat in fresh water; and also include hazards from seismic effects. The environmental risks arising out of exploration and/or production of shale gas has discouraged it’s exploitation in several countries and also resulted in legal restrictions. The commercialbenefits to gas users and developers alone cannot be the determining factor and the environmental risks and impacts to local communities must also be considered. This paper attempts to research on the following issues due to Shale gas exploration: • The environmental hazards, natural calamities and the negative impacts to the local communities in and around the exploration sites; • Influence on international energy trade; • Whether the current legislations globally are capableof tackling the issues of shale gas exploration; and • To conclude whether the economic growth is traded off with the environmental hazards;
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