Brewers speak out against fracking

At the German Brewers Association, which represents the country’s 1,300 brewers, they will be pleased that their open letter to six government ministers at the end of May 2013, in which they warn against fracking in their country and ask for a moratorium on the issue, was picked up widely by the media, making it even into the New York Times newspaper.

Invoking the beer purity law of 1516 that only allows basic, and pure, ingredients in real beer, the association worries that shale gas removal could lead to contamination of the water they use to make the national drink.

Fracking, like nuclear energy, is a highly emotional issue for Germans of all political persuasions.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the process of hydraulic fracturing – or "fracking" – involves drilling a hole deep into the dense shale rock that contains natural gas, then pumping in at very high pressure vast quantities of water mixed with sand and chemicals. This opens up tiny fissures in the rock, through which the trapped gas can then escape. However, many shale deposits are buried under aquifers, and if the cement casing around the well-hole is not adequate, the potentially toxic chemicals used in the process can leak into the aquifer, thus contaminating the water used in brewing.

Or so the brewers’ reasoning goes.

But why has the Brewers’ Association waited until now to send out this letter? Could it be related to the fact that Germany is entering the final lap of the general election campaign? The country goes to the polls in September.

The German coalition government of the conservative and liberal parties has been working on fracking legislation that would regulate the mining industry, but a vote on the law has been postponed several times. In May, the two coalition partners agreed on certain provisions that could protect drinking water from contamination, according to German media. Critics charge that the measures are too weak. No one knows if the government will have the courage to make a decision before the elections.

Incidentally, the open letter was sent to two government ministries which have nothing to do with fracking or beer: the ministries of transport and the interior. The two politicians who hold these posts come from the state of Bavaria, where a state-wide election campaign has turned nasty, following recent discoveries that members of the Bavarian state parliament have employed relatives on the government’s money.

Bavaria’s ruling conservative politicians know only too well that fracking will not win them any votes. If they are clever, they will use the Brewers’ Association’s letter to their advantage. Saving beer from potential contamination might just save them from an election defeat.