Wales votes against shale gas fracking

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The Welsh parliament has voted against the use of shale gas fracking in Wales, just one week after Scotland passed a fracking moratorium, highlighting growing discontent with the British government's push to tap shale gas resources.

A proposal against shale gas fracking was voted through in the Welsh Assembly late on Wednesday, effectively making it impossible for shale gas developments to receive planning permits in Wales.

Environmentalists, who oppose the use of fracking due to concerns about it polluting groundwater and triggering earth tremors, welcomed the Welsh decision.

"The Westminster government needs to catch up with Scotland, Wales and many other areas of the world and bring in a moratorium on controversial fracking," Friends of the Earth Energy Campaigner Donna Hume said in a statement.

Last week, Scotland imposed a fracking moratorium days after a motion to ban the technology across the country was rejected by the London-based parliament.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will go "all out for shale" to help stem a decline in North Sea oil and gas output but recent opposition is now casting doubt on Britain's shale quest, three months before a national election. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by David Evans)