'Get on and drill' for shale gas say MPs The Government has dithered on this issue and should now encourage companies to get on and drill, to establish whether significant recoverable resources exist. But Mr Yeo said the Government should not assume necessarily energy prices will plummet due to shale gas, like they did in America. He pointed out that unlike the Mid West, where rigs are already in place for onshore oil and the population is sparse, the UK has a much more densely populated land mass and fracking may be unacceptable to many communities. Also the global market for gas will be so tight prices are likely to keep rising. "Ministers should be careful not to base energy policy on an assumption that gas prices will fall in future as a result of shale gas production," he said. Rising global demand for gas, particularly from Asia, could limit any potential price reductions. The Tory MP also warned that burning a lot of shale gas could challenge the ability of the UK to meet its legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Developing technology to capture and store carbon dioxide will be absolutely essential if we want to continue burning significant quantities of gas and other fossil fuels beyond the 2020s. The current slow pace of CCS development is incredibly frustrating. We intend to keep a close eye on DECC's progress in this area Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, a company that is ready to frack in the UK soon, welcomed the advice to "get on and drill." Cuadrilla supports the Committee's view that positive community engagement will be crucial. We are committed to listening and responding to peoples' questions, while ensuring their communities share in the benefits of shale gas development," he said. But Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth Energy Campaigner, said communities will not allow it. Fracking is dirty, unnecessary and a threat to our climate and environment - it's little wonder so many communities are in opposition. Instead of gambling with shale gas we should be building an affordable power system based on our abundant clean energy from the wind, waves and sun. Jenny Banks, energy specialist at WWF-UK said it was "double think" to back fracking and tackling climate change. There's a hard truth that we need to face up to on fossil fuels; it's simply impossible to keep global warming below 2C and burn all known fossil fuel reserves - let alone exploit unconventional reserves like shale gas. In other words, the climate impacts on new fossil fuel developments must be front and centre of any decision on shale gas, not a secondary concern. Continuing this doublethink will lead to poor policy decisions.