They both hate shale gas. Over the past year the
New York Times has been
eager to find and magnify
any problems associated with hydrofracking, the technique which has
unleashed perhaps a century’s worth of domestic natural gas
reserves. Now Times’ editors are joined by Cuba’s former
communist dictator Fidel Castro. According to
Reuters, the former lider maximo has just published a long
column warning that the world is marching into the abyss with shale
gas:

Castro sided with the critics, quoting reports on the negative
effects of fracking and research that said shale gas emits more
greenhouse gases than gas produced from conventional wells.

“It is sufficient to point out that among the numerous chemical
substances injected with the water to extract this gas is found
benzene and toluene, which are substances terribly carcinogenic,”
he wrote.

The information on shale gas was something “no political cadre
or sensible person could ignore,” he said.

Interestingly, Comrade Fidel doesn’t seem to be the least bit
disturbed by the greenhouse gas emissions that will be produced if
China
succeeds in developing oil production offshore of Cuba.

Look, every industrial activity can have unwanted side effects,
especially if it is implemented negligently. It’s a given that
anyone who suffers damage to herself or her property as a result of
fracking should be fairly compensated, period. However, leftish
opposition to fracking is not about the problem of industrial
accidents; it’s about the fact that cheap abundant relatively
low-carbon natural
gas undercuts their preferred forms of high-cost renewable
energy, chiefly wind and solar power.