Welsh Government Votes Against Fracking Due To Climate and Health Fears

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Wales hopes to block fracking until 2021 while health and climate risks are investigated moreย extensively.

The proposed motion against fracking was led by opposition party Plaid Cymru and supported by members of both the Welsh Labour and Tory parties. While not an official ban yet, the Welsh government has promised to โ€œdo everything within its power to prevent fracking from taking place in Wales until it is proven to beย safeโ€.

The Welsh decision follows a similar announcement from Scotland last week placing a moratorium on shale gas extraction. This means two UK constituents are now opposing Westminster’s push to go โ€œall outโ€ for shale.

The Labour-majority Welsh Assembly promised yesterday to support the opposition partyโ€™s motion against fracking in a 37 to 16 vote.

The Assembly will now work to block shale gas extraction over the next six years. However, there will be an option for communities to opt back inย again.

Antoinette Sandbach, Welsh Conservative party member, said: โ€œA moratorium until 2021 gives sufficient time for far more research into the implications of fracking for parts of rural Wales and will allow informed decisions to beย taken.โ€

While the powers to control fracking in Wales currently remain at Whitehall, Welsh ministers have called for them to be devolved. A decision is expected to be delivered nextย month.

Carbon-Intensiveย Energy

Llyr Gruffydd, theย Plaid Cymruย shadow minister for sustainable communities, energy and food, said: โ€œPlaid Cymru is calling for a moratorium on fracking because of the danger it poses to the environment, water andย health.

โ€œInvesting in another form of carbon-intensive energy would make a mockery of our domestic and international obligations on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. We should be pursuing alternative sources of energy, for the safety of ourย communities.โ€

The decision puts enormous pressure on Westminster in the lead up to the May election. Last month MPโ€™s overwhelmingly rejected a similar motion to banย fracking.

Simon Clydesdale, a Greenpeace UK energy campaigner,ย told Click Green: โ€œEd Miliband should join his commonsense colleagues in Wales and Scotland and back a moratorium across the UK.

โ€œClearly fracking is becoming increasingly politically toxic – MPs across all parts of the UK should realise this, or they may pay the price in Mayโ€™sย election.โ€

Frackingย Loophole

Ministers in Scotland have also called for a loophole in their moratorium on fracking to protect communities and the environment from experimental gas extraction technology known as underground coal gasification (UCG).

The equally controversial process which involves igniting the coal underground is used to exploit coal that cannot be mined due to the seams being tooย deep.

The process is very similar to fracking as it generates large amounts of toxins and is heavily associated with groundwaterย contamination.

Mountingย Opposition

Fracking opposition has grown with the changing political landscape as a recent poll by Userv has found, with 40 percent of respondents voting against fracking in the UK while only 25 percent supportedย it.

Gareth Clubb, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, told WalesOnline: โ€œWeโ€™re delighted by the prospect that the Welsh Government looks to support thisย stance.

โ€œWe look forward to the Welsh Government using all the powers it currently has under planning and environmental permitting to make sure that unconventional gas extraction does not take place inย Wales.โ€

Correction 6 Feb 2015 9:00am: Please note this article previous stated that Wales voted to ban fracking. While Plaid Cymru is calling for a moratorium the Assembly did not place a moratorium on shale gas extraction in Wales. This has now been clarified in theย article.ย 

@richardheasman4

Photo: Anne Siegel viaย Flickr

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Richard Heasman joined DeSmog UK as a contributing journalist in October 2014. Originally from Stamford, he graduated with an undergraduate history degree (2:1) in 2013 from the University of Lincoln. His dissertation focused on the British mediaโ€™s role in shaping public opinion during the second Gulf War ofย 2003.

After graduating, Richard started his own online publication specialising in political-socio critiques, and now specialises in environmental topics including fracking andย industry.

Richard has been published in the Ecologist as has reported for Blue and Green Tomorrow on a varied range of environmentalย issues.

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