THE Scottish Government have announced that fracking will not take place in Scotland.
A vote on whether or not to ban unconvential oil and gas extraction is to take place after the October recess in Holyrood, and Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse laid out the Scottish Government's position on Tuesday, saying they would be voting in favour of the ban.
To applause in the chamber, Wheelhouse said: "Fracking cannot, and will not, take place in Scotland."
Wheelhouse told MSPs that the existing moratorium on fracking should go on "indefinitely".
However Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell voiced concern that the proposals did not go far enough yet, stating that a moratorium remained open to challenge from companies such as INEOS.
Friends of the Earth Scotland also welcomed the news but made clear they had similar concerns.
In their initial response they stated: "The measures announced today are the right interim approach, however we will be pushing them to go further and pass a law as soon as licensing powers are technically transferred to Holyrood."
The announcement follows a Scottish Government consultation on fracking which received over 60,000 responses. Fewer than 1% of those responses were in favour of the practice.
This will be the second vote in parliament on a fracking ban, following an earlier debate in which the SNP abstained.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson previously accused the Scottish Government of hypocrisy over the issue on Sunday Politics Scotland, adding that she found news of an impending ban “disappointing”.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks in order to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas.
It is controversial due to the environmental concerns the method has raised, especially in the United States where fracking is common in certain areas of the country.
It involve using vast amounts of water, and concerns about disposal of the waste generated has led to accusations that it has caused contamination of drinking water supplies.
A ban in Scotland allows the SNP to fulfil their election manifesto promise from last year, in which they promised to ban fracking “unless it can be proved beyond any doubt that it will not harm our environment, communities or public health”.
The Scottish Greens have been pressing for a full ban since the controversial practice became possible, with Labour and the Lib Dems later joining the call.
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