Exporting the Anti-Shale Revolution

Jose Bove, a leader of the movement against shale gas development in France, protested the exploration of the unconventional gas in Poland.

The French environmentalist and MEP rose to fame in his opposition to the global fast food chain McDonald’s, including using farm equipment to dismantle a restaurant under construction in France.

Dressed up in white overalls and brandishing container labeled as toxic, Bove publicly demonstrated his opposition at the Warsaw headquarters of French oil giant Total SA, which recently took a stake in Polish shale gas exploration permits held by ExxonMobil.

Bove is calling for a EU-wide moratorium on shale gas development and the use of hydraulic fracturing, the technology used in obtaining underground shale gas.

Hoping to carry the protest that he led in France to Poland, Bove met with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a leading proponent of developing Poland's shale gas sector.

Bove’s calls are likely to fall on deaf ears, as Poland inherits the European Union's six-month rotating presidency on July 1.