The Scottish government has announced an “effective ban” on fracking.
Prof. Stuart Haszeldine, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, said:
“Scotland has decided to continue its moratorium on fracking indefinitely using its planning powers.
“This has been transparently led by publicly available evidence that on balance shows the lack of a compelling economic case, the lack of positive assurances on citizen health, and also very strongly on the moral hazard and actual increase of greenhouse gas emissions predicted to occur. This is a government, already amongst the global leaders in climate change mitigation, which anticipates reaching its 2020 targets ahead of schedule. The consultation replies from citizens shows they are very clearly prepared to forgo the doubtful possibility of short term financial gain for the longer term benefits of moving to a cleaner economy and air quality. This is continuing the decline of fossil fuels, and moving to a different sort of wealth.”
*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-41484153
Declared interests
None declared