Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo was
among those who has offered his support for 'Back the Bill' campaign
Leitrim Observer
By Claire McGovern
11 May 2017
Friends of the Earth has welcomed the Oireachtas
Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment’s decision to
pass a Bill which would ban hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas in
Ireland. This marks the ‘third stage’ or
‘committee stage’ debate on this Bill.
The proposed Bill received unanimous support from the
Dail late last year, and a public consultation undertaken earlier this year
also received overwhelming support with 8,000 submissions received in favour of
legislating to ban fracking in Ireland compared to one submission which opposed
it.
Kate Ruddock, Deputy Director of Friends of the Earth
said “For our land, our health and our climate fracking is not welcome and the
passage of this Bill is a testament to the strong public and grassroots
opposition to fracking in Ireland. “
“A Private
Members Bill has rarely progressed as far as this in any previous Dail, and as
such it is a great example of how ‘new politics’ is working in Ireland. However, for this Bill to progress further it
now needs a strong statement of support from Government, and a commitment from
the Minister that it will be allocated Government time in the Dail and Seanad
for its final stages, otherwise it risks lying on a shelf for the foreseeable
future.”
"Hydraulic Fracturing is a process of extracting
oil and gas from the ground where it is held in shale deposits or other tight
sandstones as are found across Counties Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Donegal and
Clare. The process has been ongoing in
various parts of the US and Europe for many years and there is now a
significant body of research demonstrating its negative impact on the environment,
water quality and human health. Three
companies were granted licences to explore for oil and gas across Ireland with
a view to using hydraulic fracturing or fracking to extract it. This Bill would prevent any such extraction"…
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