The Economist scoffs at Poland´s opportunity to become self sufficient on energy

The Economist seems to have a problem with accepting that the American-led shale gas revolution will benefit Poland hugely in the future. The leftist and environmentalist slant in the once great magazine is obvious when one reads the Economist blog:

 For the last few years the country has been getting ever dizzier at the prospect of ending its dependence on Russian gas and becoming a "new Norway".

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The Polish government insists that the system is not to blame for any individual wrongdoing. Still, it is working on a new legal framework for shale-gas exploitation. A new geological and mining law [paywall] came into force on January 1st, applying EU regulations and simplifying procedures for investors.

Environmentalists, however, complain that although the law gives concession-holders potential buyout rights to properties where they might want to set up a drill, it says nothing about "fracking fluid"—the huge quantities of water and chemicals that shale-gas extractors pump into the ground in order to crack shale rocks and get to the gas.

In the next three months the government should present a new law on the taxation of shale gas. The concurrent corruption investigation could have a sobering effect on a country caught up in flighty dreams of riches.

Yes, it is true that seven people have been charged in Poland with offering or receiving bribes in the allocation of concessions to look for the gas in 2011. But does this give the Economist the right to scoff at and belittle Poland´s unique opportunity to finally get rid of its dependence on Russian energy? Certainly not!

However, Gazprom and Greenpeace will applaud.

PS

This is the kind of news that the Economist is not interested in publishing:

By the end of 2012, around 3,500 residents of small towns and villages within the Pomorskie voivodship will be able to use shale gas to heat their homes, reported Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
The change will save them around zł.100 to zł.200 per year on their normal fuel costs.
It is estimated that shale gas will be about 20 percent cheaper for consumers than conventional gas imported from Russia.
Although the production of shale gas on an industrial scale is expected to be launched in Poland not earlier than in 2014, Polish oil and gas giant PGNiG wants to start testing production levels at its Lubocin location in the second half of 2012, writes Dziennik Gazeta