What has Scotland to lose by exploratory drilling to learn if fracking is viable?

At a conference in Aberdeen this week, senior figures in the oil industry at last made the blindingly obvious point that all the debate about fracking in Scotland is being carried out in the absence of any real data on recoverable reserves and economic viability. Colette Cohen, chief executive of the Oil and Gas technology centre, said “I’m frustrated because we’ve allowed emotion to eliminate an intellectual debate on what’s right for UK energy security.”

I recently attended a seminar on how unemployed oil workers could translate or reuse their skills. When I asked the speaker from Skills Development Scotland, a Scottish Government-funded quango with a budget of £220 million and 1,400 employees, if they thought fracking was an opportunity I was told “we don’t want to talk about that”. I asked “why not?” and they then moved on to the next question.

The SNP’S ban on fracking includes exploratory drilling, an obvious approach if you don’t want your virtue signalling anti-fracking stance to be clouded by the possibility that the economic benefits might outweigh the environmental and safety arguments. Even their own Expert Report in 2014 said this could be overcome. This has a lot to do with keeping six Greens MSPS onside, a party that only got 13,172 first preference votes – out of four million – in last year’s Holyrood election.

Our industry leaders, and sensible politicians, need to speak out. We have the skills, we have the processing and transportation facilities in Grangemouth, all we need to do is establish if the opportunity is viable. What is there to lose by investigating? Why isn’t Skills Development Scotland lobbying for change? ALLAN SUTHERLAND Willow Row, Stonehaven

Al Gore’s just released film An Inconvenient Sequel continues misleading people with dubious claims. His earlier film, An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, warned that “Sea levels may rise 20 feet” and in this 2017 sequel Gore tries to justify this statement by showing lower Manhattan underwater while intoning: “This is global warming.”

But the pictures were taken during Superstorm Sandy – water is always pushed ashore during such storms.

Average sea levels over the past decade have risen by about 1 inch so when will the other 19 feet, 11 inches hit us?

In An Inconvenient Truth Gore predicted that tornadoes and hurricanes would get worse. They haven’t. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms there is little or no link between climate change and extreme weather events. No doubt, however, the usual suspects will jump at the chance to blame mankind for Storm Harvey and the current flooding in Texas.

In An Inconvenient Truth Gore used the polar bear as a tearjerking icon, saying they would drown due to their inability to find Arctic sea ice. People fell for his spin.will Gore please explain how since 2005 their population has increased by 30 per cent to about 30,000?

CLARK CROSS Springfield Road, Linlithgow