Friends of the Earth Scotland has called for the Scottish Government to implement a legal ban on fracking. The call comes as Ministers prepare to make a statement to Parliament on 3 October.
In 2017, Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse announced an ‘effective ban’ on the industry, a position that was subsequently exposed as having no legal force following a court case by petrochemical giant INEOS. This followed a four-month public consultation on policy position on unconventional oil and gas, to which 99% of the 60,000 people who responded revealed they were opposed to fracking.
The Scottish Government most recently held a consultation from October to December 2018, again on the preferred policy position on unconventional oil and gas in Scotland.
Friends of the Earth Scotland Head of Campaigns Mary Church said: “Ministers must live up their rhetoric and fulfil the promises of two years ago by committing to a full legal ban on fracking that will put this issue to bed once and for all. The effective ban announced 2 years ago has been exposed in court as having no legal force and was described by the Scottish Government’s own legal team as merely ‘the language of a press release’.”
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy