SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 17 submissions in the queue.
SoylentNews
France plans to pass legislation this year to phase out all oil and gas exploration and production on its mainland and overseas territories by 2040, becoming the first country to do so, according to a draft bill presented on Wednesday.
President Emmanuel Macron wants to make France carbon neutral by 2050 and plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions by leaving fossil fuels, blamed for contributing to global warming, in the ground.
Under the draft presented to cabinet, France will no longer issue exploration permits. The extension of current concessions will be gradually limited until they are phased out by 2040 - when France plans to end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles.
A largely symbolic gesture, but sometimes symbols matter.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
France Plans to End Oil and Gas Production by 2040
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 32 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
The last time I saw him he was walking down Lover's Lane holding his own hand.
-- Fred Allen
(Score: 5, Informative) by bob_super on Friday September 08 2017, @05:13PM (3 children)
The point is that the current production is so low (1 or 2% of the country's usage), it doesn't really change much to stop drilling.
Savings from insulation/solar/wind/electric cars will offset the loss of production by an least order of magnitude.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday September 08 2017, @05:39PM
TFA says they produce 6 million barrels per year. So, yeah, it's not going to save the planet by itself but it's still progress.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday September 08 2017, @07:35PM (1 child)
True, it's largely symbolic in that regard.
On the other hand, it also means an end to fracking, etc., which I imagine is done there as well. And which will likely have a very real impact on water quality and geologic stability.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday September 08 2017, @08:00PM
Actually, fracking has seen so much opposition in Europe (which is no longer a vast empty place where money now trumps consequences) that many countries have banned it, including France I believe.