Thursday 5 February 2015

Plaid's move on Fracking Moratorium a start at least.


Plaid may well n be congratulating themselves over getting the The Welsh Government  to back calls for ministers to do all they can to stop fracking until its safety is proven.

But we must be realistic  This will not stop fracking now. It is still only statement of intent by the Welsh Government and comes despite relevant powers over licensing not being devolved in Wales, but there are calls for that to happen with an announcement by Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb on further devolution expected in weeks.

And the Welsh Labour  Government commitment  is hardly encouraging/

 he  economy minister Edwina Hart, , has turned down calls for planning advice to be updated.

First Minister Carwyn Jones has previously said that a moratorium would be considered if powers were devolved.

He could call for Ed Miliband to include this in Labours Manifesto for GE2010 but considering the attitude of Carwyn Jones' Westminster colleagues who failed to back a Plaid, SNP Green motion on a monetarism on fracking the Omens are not good.

The Plaid Cymru motion, supported by the Labour Welsh Government and backed by 37 AMs to 16 against, called for energy to be fully devolved to the National Assembly for Wales.

It also called on the Welsh Government to do “everything within its power to prevent fracking from taking place in Wales until it is proven to be safe in both an environmental and public health context.”

Plaid Cymru has been a lone voice in our opposition to fracking in the Assembly for many years. Today’s vote is an unequivocal statement that Wales does not want fracking.“It is right that we protect our communities from the potential dangers posed by unproven methods of extracting shale gas from underneath the ground. There has been a growing consensus around Plaid Cymru’s opinion, and I’m glad that the National Assembly has today confirmed its opposition.
“Plaid Cymru wants to see a moratorium on fracking because of the dangers it poses. We want to work towards a sustainable future for Wales, and achieving our obligations to reduce carbon emissions is a big part of that. It therefore makes no sense for us to invest in a carbon-intensive source of energy when we could be harnessing the renewable energy sources that we have in abundance.
“This is a historic day for the campaign for a frack free Wales and a victory for Plaid Cymru in our long-running campaign to protect Wales’ communities
.”
In reality the Plaid victory is only a statement of intent  of a Frack Free Wales it will  be meaningless if controls are not only devolved  to the Assembly but for Labour in Wales to state now it  intends to introduce a Moratorium if it has the power to do so.







1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Finally some good news.

Your right it's only a start, but it's been welcomed by most people, it's now up to Plaid Cymru, Frack Free Wales, the Greens and anyone else who opposes Fracking in Wales to keep the pressure on and for Welsh Labour to deliver on it's promise.