PSE Healthy Energy, United States; Weill Cornell Medical College, 402 East 67th St. New York, NY 10065, United States.
Weill Cornell Medical College, 402 East 67th St. New York, NY 10065, United States.
Sci Total Environ. 2015 Apr 15;512-513:36-42. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.004. Epub 2015 Jan 19.
The United States shale gas boom has precipitated global interest in the development of unconventional oil and gas resources. Recently, government ministers in the United Kingdom started granting licenses that will enable companies to begin initial exploration for shale gas. Meanwhile, concern is increasing among the scientific community about the potential impacts of shale gas and other types of unconventional natural gas development (UGD) on human health and the environment. Although significant data gaps remain, there has been a surge in the number of articles appearing in the scientific literature, nearly three-quarters of which has been published since the beginning of 2013. Important lessons can be drawn from the UGD experience in the United States. Here we explore these considerations and argue that shale gas development policies in the UK and elsewhere should be informed by empirical evidence generated on environmental, public health, and social risks. Additionally, policy decisions should take into account the measured effectiveness of harm reduction strategies as opposed to hypothetical scenarios and purported best practices that lack empirical support.
美国页岩气繁荣引发了全球对非常规油气资源开发的兴趣。最近，英国政府部长开始发放许可证，允许公司开始对页岩气进行初步勘探。与此同时，科学界对页岩气和其他类型的非常规天然气开发（UGD）对人类健康和环境的潜在影响的担忧正在增加。尽管仍存在重大数据差距，但科学文献中出现的文章数量却急剧增加，其中近四分之三是自 2013 年初以来发表的。从美国的 UGD 经验中可以吸取重要教训。在这里，我们探讨了这些考虑因素，并认为英国和其他地方的页岩气开发政策应该以环境、公共卫生和社会风险方面产生的经验证据为依据。此外，政策决策还应考虑到减少危害策略的实际效果，而不是缺乏经验支持的假设情况和所谓的最佳实践。
