By Dave Cartwright, Glasgow
The Scottish National Party (SNP), the ruling party in the Scottish Government, claim to have a new approach to politics, supposedly progressive, inclusive and socially aware. Yet this is a Government that has once again decided to renew fracking licences, despite having told people two years ago that they had banned fracking altogether.
A fracking licence covering 400 square kilometres of land near Falkirk in Central Scotland was granted two years ago. The Scottish Government has now given a further one year extension, notified in a letter from the Energy Minister, Paul Wheelhouse last Friday. This was, conveniently, only hours after Scottish Members of Parliament had all left the Assembly for the summer recess. The commercial beneficiaries of the extension are the private operators, Ineos who operate Grangemouth Oil Refinery (80%) and Reach Coal Gas Seam Limited (20%). This is another example of how the Scottish National Party are firmly wedded to private enterprise, despite their attempts to portray themselves as the party of ordinary people, trying to draw working people away from the Labour Party.
The dangers of fracking are well documented. Pressurised water and a toxic mixture of chemicals are pumped into underground shale beds to release natural gas. The process releases methane which is 25 times more effective as a greenhouse gas, kilogram for kilogram, than carbon dioxide. Pollutants are emitted into the air creating smog and reducing the availability of clean air for local residents. Very large quantities of water are used in the process. The water that is used becomes highly contaminated. Up to 40% of the water returned to the surface contains toxic residue.
Underground leaks risk pollution of aquifers
Other risks include the potential for oil spills and earthquakes. The danger with earth tremors is not so much that if might cause damage on the surface, but that they pose a risk to the integrity of the pipes hundreds of feet underground, where it is impossible to trace or repair cracks or leaks. Anything that compromises the integrity of the underground piping will increase the likelihood of contamination of aquifers used for consumption.
The SNP clearly knows all these dangers. They set up an expert panel in 2013, introduced a moratorium in 2015, commissioned another research project in 2016 and then ran a consultation in 2017. At the time Paul Wheelhouse said “There is, in effect, a ban on unconventional oil and gas activities in Scotland”. However, after this claim was challenged by Ineos in May 2018, the Government admitted that it wasn’t really banned. The Government’s lawyer, James Mure QC said: “The concept of an effective ban is a gloss. It’s the language of a press statement. What they’ve done is announce a preferred position on the issue. They’ve not yet adopted a position.”
A ban on fracking is an urgent necessity. The Scottish Labour Party has made it clear that the Government has the power to ban fracking and would implement a ban as part of a wider Climate Change Bill. At a time when more and more people are becoming conscious of the devastating effects of profit-driven decisions affecting the environment, it is staggering that the SNP continues to obfuscate and stick its head in the sand on this issue.
July 3, 2019
