Scientist Leading Government Team Not Against Fracking

The Scientist leading the Government sponsored climate change transformation team, Professor James Curran, has indicated in the Isle of Man media that the Government’s plans for hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) in the seabed is not a contradiction with its climate emergency resolution for net zero emissions by 2050. Professor Curran co-authored a 2014 report for the Government in Scotland on developing the extraction of fossil fuels by fracking in Scotland.

The Government’s proposal to licence a private company to frack the Biosphere Island’s seabed will raise concerns of the risk of tremors that have been witnessed at the fracking sites in Lancashire and of damage to sea-life. The proposal to frack would also mean that the Government is knowingly giving away control of a gas field that will increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, increasing our own sea levels, risking our flood defences and increasing summer droughts. This clearly shows that this Government is not willing to invest in the renewable energy that our future generations need.

Despite this, the Government has continued to apply taxpayers’ resources in preparing tenders for fiscal and technical matters relating to the fracking, that will ultimately cost the taxpayer further in terms of climate mitigation. Whilst this has been going on, it has progressed its goal of building a further 5,100 houses on greenfield sites and will not put the climate change bill before Parliament until June 2020. The Government should be complying with its resolution of a climate emergency and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by immediately reducing emissions and increasing renewable energy output in the Isle of Man.