Scottish Labour is to lodge a Holyrood member’s bill aiming to “change the law to ban fracking in Scotland”. Labour MSP Claudia Beamish is to launch a public consultation as part of her bid to have the controversial practice banned north of the border. The Scottish government has imposed a moratorium on fracking while collecting and considering scientific evidence. Labour’s announcement comes on the same day as the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change is ratified. The SNP government at Holyrood is expected to publish its findings about unconventional oil and gas extraction soon, having recently formally distanced itself from Underground Coal Gasification. The Scottish parliament actually voted to support an outright ban on fracking in June, although SNP members abstained from that vote. Ms Beamish said the “climate science and evidence is clear” about fracking. She said: “Scotland relying on fracking for our energy needs will lock us into an energy infrastructure based on fossil fuels long after our country needs to have moved to clean energy. “SNP ministers now face an urgent choice – they can work with Labour to ban fracking, or they can work with the Tories to allow drilling under family homes in parts of central Scotland.”
BBC 4th Nov 2016 read more »
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Scottish Energy News 4th Nov 2016 read more »