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France Moves To Ban Shale Gas Drilling

RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:

As Eleanor Beardsley reports, much of the opposition is fueled by what the French see happening in the U.S.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY: Unidentified Man: Whoa. Jesus Christ.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GASLAND")

BEARDSLEY: For those who missed the documentary, shocking excerpts like this one, showing flames coming out of a man's kitchen faucet, were rerun on the nightly news. France is said to contain large reserves of shale gas and last year the French government granted research licenses to several companies to explore them. But the government has been forced to backtrack because of a groundswell of opposition to the method, from environmentalists and the public.

FRANCOIS FILLON: (Foreign language spoken).

BEARDSLEY: For NPR news, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Eleanor Beardsley began reporting from France for NPR in 2004 as a freelance journalist, following all aspects of French society, politics, economics, culture and gastronomy. Since then, she has steadily worked her way to becoming an integral part of the NPR Europe reporting team.