Fracking fears

TUESDAY’S charm offensive by bosses from fossil fuel giants Ineos will have done little to win over politicians concerned about the safety of fracking.

Further still, it will have done nothing to alleviate the concerns of the growing number of communities, like those around the Falkirk area, opposed to onshore and near-shore unconventional oil and gas development.

The inability of the so-called ‘Dragon’ ship to dock in Scotland because of high winds was a form of poetic justice that showed the magnificent wind energy potential in Scotland. Unfortunately, as well as shale gas, the ship also brought with it a renewed and deliberate campaign for fracking to be given the go ahead.

now is the time to be investing in clean, renewable energy sources, not digging for more fossil fuels. It was reported that on one windy day last month, wind turbines covered all of our electricity needs and we already to know that Scotland is ‘the undisputed world leader’ in tidal energy.

We already have much more gas and oil than we can afford to burn if we are to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global climate change and fracking comes with the added risk of leakage of methane.

The truth is, we cannot say for certain that fracking is safe. as Jim ratcliffe says himself, ‘however hard you try things go wrong’.

The Scottish Government must legislate for an outright ban on fracking because its vague ‘moratorium’ policy is clearly giving hope to fossil fuel giants intent on digging up Scotland. mArK ruSKeLL mSP, Scottish Greens.