Thursday 1 June 2017

Irish parliament backs bill to ban fracking

Ireland moved a step closer to banning onshore fracking as its parliament backed a new bill yesterday.

England is becoming increasingly isolated among its neighbours on the issue, with fracking already banned in France and in the Netherlands until 2020, with temporary bans in place for Scotland and Wales.

The Conservative Party and UKIP back fracking, citing a need for greater energy independence and security, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party all promising to put a stop to fracking in their election manifestos.

Donna Hume, Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "After six years of failing to get fracking off the ground in England, following huge public opposition, isn’t it time to consider a different approach?

"Just think about how much renewable energy and how many jobs could have been created in that time if the government supported clean energy projects that people actually wanted."