Post Tags: fracking

Climate Groups Demand Halt to Cork Fracked Gas Projects

Brussels — A coalition of international climate activist groups released a letter today demanding that the Port of Cork cancel its arrangement with NextDecade to build fracked gas infrastructure in the Cork harbour. 

The letter — which was signed by groups such as Food & Water Europe, 350.org, Friends of the Earth, Better Path Coalition, Oil Change International, Food & Water Action, Not Here Not Anywhere, FracTracker Alliance, Extinction Rebellion Ireland, Environment Texas, Cork Climate Action — points out that approving fossil fuel projects that will last for decades is incompatible with global efforts to combat the climate crisis. The lifespan of a project like Cork LNG is at least 30 years, which would increase Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels and slow the development of renewable energy projects.

NextDecade plans to build a floating gas storage unit and a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal import terminal. The fracked gas would originate in the United States, where fracking has been linked to an array of health problems and water contamination. 

Methane emissions at every point of the fracking process are tied to the overall increase in greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the climate crisis. New LNG exports will spur additional fracking, as 80% of the increased exports from the United States will come from new fracked wells. Recent research shows that this gas is 40% more damaging to the climate than coal.

The Cork facility is one of two currently proposed highly controversial LNG import terminals in Ireland.

In 2017, the Republic of Ireland banned fracking on health and environmental grounds. A growing international movement is pressuring the Irish government to block fracked gas projects as well, citing the ongoing concerns about the impact of the drilling on local communities. 

Read the letter.

Contact:

Andy Gheorghiu, Policy advisor, Food & Water Europe, email: [email protected], mobile: +49 160 20 30 974

 

Tories Halt Fracking in England: How Do We Win a Permanent Ban?

Election year move still leaves important questions

Brussels — It was a shocking reversal in British politics: Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party unveiled a halt to fracking in the UK with a policy that would essentially stop fracking in England. The move was similar to the Scottish government’s announcement in October that it would not support fracking there.

It’s nonetheless hard to overstate the shift in England. Prime Minister Johnson, as the Guardian noted, had previously called fracking “glorious news for humanity,” and had called on the country to “leave no stone unturned, or unfracked.” But with elections looming, the Tories were the only major party hanging on to support an issue that had become decidedly unpopular. Johnson clearly wanted to keep fracking out of the electoral debate.

So for many observers, the decision smacked of desperate politics. The government justified its position with a new study by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) pointing to “unacceptable” earthquake risks associated with drilling, and will not allow fracking “until compelling new evidence” shows that it can be done in a “safe and sustainable way.” 

Since there is no safe and sustainable way to frack–in the UK or anywhere else–this would seem to spell the end of fracking in the UK. However, fracking company Cuadrilla has already announced that it will provide the oil and gas regulators with new data to address the concerns of communities near active fracking sites, with the hopes that the moratorium can be lifted.

Several important questions concerning the nitty-gritty details of this temporarily moratorium remain. That’s why UK’s anti-fracking campaigners are treating the current situation with caution.

Definition of fracking— what might still be allowed?

While activists took the government’s sudden announcement as a good sign, there are questions about specifically which processes are covered by the moratorium. Would acidization be covered by the current moratorium? Can fracking companies get around the moratorium by using less water? What will happen with the existing licenses of companies like Cuadrilla or plastic producer Ineos, which owns the majority of shale licenses in England and Scotland? It remains unclear how the new UK government will deal with such matters.

Importing fracked gas 

A freeze or ban on drilling could merely shift fossil fuel companies to rely on imports— meaning that more fracking in other places around the world, including areas in the United States like Pennsylvania and Ohio. The US already exports LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) to the UK. 

On top of that, petrochemical giant Ineos has established an additional trans-atlantic supply chain of fracked “wet gas” (ie ethane, propane and butane) from Pennsylvania that it uses for the production of virgin plastic at Grangemouth, Scotland. Neither the moratorium in England nor in Scotland will affect these existing supply chains. As long as they exist (and even expand), the question remains how long it will take until someone asks the question again if it isn’t “safer, more sustainable and cheaper” to frack the hydrocarbons in the UK.

The UK government calls its new policy an “effective moratorium,” which means in the short term it is “unlikely to approve future Hydraulic Fracture Plans unless new evidence is presented.” The government added that it will “not be taking forward proposed planning reforms in relation to shale gas,” and has “a presumption against issuing any further Hydraulic Fracturing Consents.”

But at the same time–and in very same statement— Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Andrea Leadson also sent this message: “The Government continues to recognise the importance of natural gas as a source of secure and affordable energy as we aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050.” 

A full, comprehensive ban cannot see fossil fuels as having a role in the country’s energy future. And until that vision is realized, the movement to ban fracking still has work to do. 

 

BREAKING: Fracking Banned in the United Kingdom

Fracking is too bad even for Boris; US political leaders must follow suit

The Guardian is reporting tomorrow that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce a formal, immediate ban on fracking.

Drilling companies have targeted several UK sites for years, but a series of earthquakes have recently stalled operations. All along, intense local opposition movements have blocked drilling sites and pressured lawmakers across the country.

Johnson had been a vocal proponent of drilling, and his Conservative Party was the only major political party that still supported fracking.

In response to this news, Food & Water Europe and Food & Water Action executive director Wenonah Hauter issued the following statement:

“This monumental victory is a huge win for the movement to protect our water and our climate future, and it happened only because committed activists lobbied political leaders and put their bodies on the line. It is a testament to the power of bold, uncompromised climate action in the face of immense political and legal obstacles.

“The biggest loser here is Ineos billionaire CEO Jim Ratcliffe, whose business model seeks to deliver petrochemical pollution, plastics proliferation and planetary destruction. It was Ineos that sought to frack the UK, and they have been stopped by a determined activist movement.

“The bottom line: If fracking is so bad that even Boris Johnson had to say no, there is no excuse for political leaders and presidential candidates in the United States to be any less ambitious. For the sake of clean air, clean water and a safe climate, fracking must be banned everywhere.”

EU Commission Backs 55 Controversial New Fossil Fuel Projects

Brussels, 31 October 2019 – In one of the last acts of President Juncker’s administration, the European Commission has today backed 55 new climate-damaging fossil fuel projects, as part of a list of priority energy projects [1] – a move that flies in the face of the climate emergency say Friends of the Earth Europe and Food & Water Europe. 

This fourth edition of the list, known as ‘Projects of Common Interest’ (PCI) list, lends European Commission support to dozens of new climate-damaging gas infrastructure projects with lifetimes lasting decades. 

Projects supported include new gas pipelines and LNG terminals – many to import fracked gas from the United States – which could shackle Europe to decades more fossil fuel use. [2] This is despite incoming European Commission President von der Leyen’s promise of a ‘carbon neutral’ continent by 2050 and a ‘Green Deal’ for Europe in her first 100 days. 

Colin Roche, fossil free campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said:
“The Commission’s support for yet more fossil gas projects will bring us a step closer to climate breakdown. This new PCI list makes a mockery of the EU’s commitments to deliver a ‘carbon neutral’ Europe, and insults all those who have voted and protested for decisive climate action. MEPs must now reject this list and all new fossil fuel projects.”

Energy projects on the PCI list are eligible to receive EU subsidy under the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’, even though the EU has committed to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. 

Fossil gas is an emissions-intensive fossil fuel that is not compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement nor with EU climate targets. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) one year ago warned the world is running out of time to address the climate emergency. 

Attention next turns to MEPs, who face a test of their climate credentials if they vote on whether to approve or reject this PCI list. [3] 

Frida Kieninger, from Food & Water Europe said:
“MEPs must reject EU support for yet more dirty gas projects – this list is based on a deeply flawed selection process that is untransparent, riddled with gas industry interests, and does not consider climate impacts. The climate crisis has no space for the EU Commission’s blatant promotion of dirty fossil fuels.” [4]

Kate Ruddock of Friends of the Earth Ireland, commenting on the EU Commission’s support for an LNG terminal in Shannon, Ireland, said: 

“It’s hard to see how the Shannon LNG terminal even qualifies as a so-called ‘project of common interest’ – it does not connect with the rest of Europe, it has not been assessed for the impacts on our climate targets – it’s in the interest of an American fossil fuel company, not the people of Europe.”

Campaigners are calling for the ‘Trans-European Networks – Energy’ (TEN-E) Regulation, which governs the PCI list, to be aligned to EU climate commitments. [5]

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For more information, contact:

Robbie Blake, communications team, Friends of the Earth Europe, [email protected], (+32) (0)2 893 1010

Colin Roche, fossil free campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe, [email protected], (+32) (0)2 893 1018, (+32)(0) 489 598984

Frida Kieninger, campaign officer, Food & Water Europe, [email protected], (+32) (0)487 249905

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NOTES: 

Just weeks ago, the Swedish government denied permission for Gothenburg LNG terminal, a current gas project on the PCI list, citing climate considerations: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/regeringen-sager-nej-till-planer-pa-naturgashamn-i-goteborg 

[1] Link to the new PCI list

[2] Controversial projects backed by the European Commission include: 

EU LNG import terminals have been used at less than a quarter of their capacities in the past years: https://alsi.gie.eu.

[3] MEPs have at least two months to scrutinise the list. The fossil fuel projects cannot be voted individually, only the package as a whole. 

[4] Hiding in plain sight: how the gas industry influences European energy policy http://www.foeeurope.org/hiding-plain-sight-gas-industry-influences-european-energy-policy-110517 

When asked about climate impacts of the PCI list, deputy director of DG Energy Klaus-Dieter Borchardt said: “Where is the sustainability or climate impact assessment? Unfortunately we are not doing it” https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/video?event=20191017-0900-COMMITTEE-ITRE 

[5] EU parliamentarians have repeatedly demanded greater inclusion in the PCI list drafting. The Commission has promised a review of the relevant TEN-E regulation, but a revision could take years.

The outcome of a public consultation held on all PCI candidate projects showed that 99.6% of the participants give a negative assessment to PCI projects, but the Commission never published the report http://bit.ly/PCI_publCons2019

Breaking: Justification for Controversial Shannon Fracked Gas Terminal Eviscerated at European Commission Meeting Yesterday

Citing climate impacts, Sweden pulls LNG project off European Union’s energy projects of common interest list; Ireland must follow suit and reject fracked gas Shannon LNG terminal

Irish government now has until October 23 to remove Shannon terminal off European Union’s list for subsidies and permitting fastrack

Brussels — On Thursday, October 17, it was revealed at a European Commission meeting that the US fracked gas Shannon LNG import terminal is on the European Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list, without assessing climate or sustainability impacts. Two other gas projects connected to Shannon LNG were shown to be taken off the list.

At the EU Committee on Industry, Research and Energy at the European Commission, members were unable to respond to criticism that this project has not undergone a sustainability study that would assess its impact on climate and Ireland’s commitment to the Paris Agreement. This criticism comes after the Swedish government recently removed the fossil gas LNG terminal in the Port of Gothenburg off the same PCI list, on the grounds that locking in fossil fuel dependence is inconsistent with climate targets.

TD Brid Smith said, “Breaking: Justification for Controversial Shannon Fracked Gas Terminal Eviscerated at European Commission Meeting YesterdayThis process has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning and now we find out that the Swedish government has pulled a similar LNG fossil gas terminal off the PCI list based on the same climate concerns that members of the Dail, NGOs and scientists have raised, including at the Joint Oireachtais Committee on Climate Action last week. The question we need to now be asking is what is motivating the Taoiseach and Minister Bruton to continue to push the Shannon LNG fracked gas terminal?”

The Irish Government has until 23rd October to remove the Shannon LNG project from the PCI list. If the project remains on the list, it will become eligible for EU subsidies, and it would fast track planning permission that would override environmental impacts that the project would have on the protected Shannon Estuary – despite the fact that a decision of the European Court of Justice on the project is still pending.

Two projects (gas underground storage in Northern Ireland and a reverse flow pipeline to Scotland) that were connected to Shannon LNG were taken off the PCI list after the EU’s internal review found the projects “did not prove that their overall benefits outweigh costs”. The criteria for a project to be on the PCI list is that it has a significant impact on at least two EU member states. With the removal of the two connecting infrastructure projects in Northern Ireland and Scotland, Shannon LNG does not meet that criteria, yet currently remains on the list.

“The projects on the PCI list are intended to help the EU achieve its energy policy and climate objectives: affordable, secure and sustainable energy for all citizens, and the long-term decarbonisation of the economy in accordance with the Paris Agreement, and they must link at least two European member states. The Shannon project simply does not achieve any of these goals and must be removed from the PCI list,” said Kate Ruddock from Friends of the Earth.

“The grounds for approving this project are non-existent. The Shannon LNG terminal is planned to import fracked gas, which would torpedo the efforts of the Emerald Isle to achieve its climate targets. Now, the EU Commission admitted that even the formal criteria can’t be met by  Shannon LNG. If the Taoiseach and Minister Bruton don’t remove this project from the PCI list, it is evident that there is something more nefarious afoot. The public deserves to know what influence and false promises New Fortress Energy, the corporation behind the Shannon LNG terminal, are making to impact this decision,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch Europe.

The Shannon LNG terminal has become increasingly controversial as US campaigners have pointed out that the project would be supplied by fracked gas originating in the United States. . Health professionals, NGOs and advocates, including Mark Ruffalo and Michael Moore, sent a letter to the Taoiseach asking Ireland to block this project, which would re-energise the fracking industry and increase human suffering and pollution in the affected areas, specifically Pennsylvania.

Actor and anti-fracking campaigner Mark Ruffalo said, “The Taoiseach and the Irish government can follow Sweden’s lead here and show what real climate leadership looks like. We are working everyday in the US to ban fracking and help our fellow Americans who have been harmed by this industry. Unlike the US, the Irish government isn’t bought off by the fossil fuel industry — but if they approve this project on the PCI list on October 23, then it will appear that they are.”

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Richard Bruton has kept the process surrounding the PCI list shrouded in secrecy. He would not respond to TD Brid Smith’s request to inform the Dail of the date of the European Commission meeting. It was only after an Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) request from a local resident that the TDs and public learned the date of that meeting. Then, after the closed door meeting at the European Commission, Minister Bruton declined to share information with NGOs as to whether or not Shannon LNG and related gas projects were on the PCI list. It was not until 17 October that residents and groups learned what is on the final PCI list, and that Ireland has until 23 October to remove Shannon LNG off the list.

“Minister Richard Bruton refused to share information with members of the Dáil or the public about whether or not the Shannon LNG or connected projects would be on the list. The entire process lacks transparency, deepening concerns and criticisms about why Minister Bruton and members of the Irish government support the project that would bring dirty US fracked gas to Ireland,” said Kerry County local resident and Safety Before LNG’s John McElligott. 

Advocates in the US are pleading with the Irish government to stop the project. In recent months, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper has investigated and found least 67 diagnoses of cancers in children in just 4 rural, heavily-fracked counties of the state. Health professionals and scientists in the United States have been documenting the public health harms of fracking and related infrastructure for years now. The vast majority of more than 1,500 articles from peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals, investigative reports by journalists, and reports from, or commissioned by, government agencies demonstrate that drilling, fracking, and related infrastructure LNG are dangerous and harmful.

“We are asking the Irish government to make this decision to stop the import of US fracked gas not only on the scientific and economic basis but also on a moral one. Ireland banned fracking because of the harm it would bring to public health and the environment. Please don’t import the fracked gas that is wreaking havoc in our state and our country,” said Pennsylvania resident and Better Path Coalition campaigner Karen Feridun.

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Contact:

Kate Ruddock, Friends of the Earth Ireland: [email protected]

Andy Gheorghiu, Policy Advisor and Campaigner, Food & Water Europe: [email protected], 0049 160 20 30 974

Scott Edwards, Director of Food & Water Justice: [email protected], 1.202.683.4969

Commission Support for 55 new Gas Projects Condemned

Brussels, 18 October 2019 – Drafts indicate the European Commission will give its support to at least 55 new climate-incompatible fossil gas infrastructure projects across Europe – as part of its new list of priority energy projects known as ‘Projects of Common Interest’ (PCI). [1]

The draft was shared with MEPs in advance of an energy and industry committee (ITRE) hearing on the refreshed list yesterday (Thursday 17 October). But Friends of the Earth Europe and Food and Water Europe condemned the Commission’s support for new fossil fuel projects as ‘a step closer to climate breakdown’.

Energy projects on the PCI list are eligible to be considered for EU funding under the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’.

The list includes several controversial fossil gas projects which have been opposed by campaign groups across Europe including the Shannon LNG terminal in Ireland and the Krk LNG terminal in Croatia.

This fourth iteration of the list comes as President von der Leyen’s new European Commission proposes the EU become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2050 with a European Green Deal in the first 100 days, and one year after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned the world is running out of time to address the climate emergency. Nevertheless, the list contains fossil gas projects with a lifetime long beyond 2050.

Colin Roche, fossil free campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said:
“The Commission’s support for yet more fossil gas projects will bring us a step closer to climate breakdown. We’re in a climate emergency, yet instead of launching a 100% renewable energy transformation, the Commission are building for disaster by needlessly expanding our fossil gas network.”

Frida Kieninger, for Food & Water Europe said:
“The climate emergency cannot be solved by supporting dozens more fossil gas projects. This fourth list of priority EU energy projects completely contradicts the Commission’s stated aim of decarbonising our economy and heeding the calls of youth climate protesters. It contains several huge gas pipelines and new LNG terminals, many of which will import fracked gas from the US with devastating impacts for communities, the environment and our climate.” 

A European Commission official noted to MEPs today that most of the original fossil gas projects included in the first PCI list in 2014 still remain on this fourth list.

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For more information, contact:

Colin Roche, fossil free campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe, [email protected], (+32) (0)2 893 1018, (+32)(0) 489 598984

Frida Kieninger, campaign officer for Food & Water Europe, [email protected], (+32) (0)487 249905, (+32)(0) 28931045

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Notes

[1] https://www.foodandwatereurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/draft_PCI_list2019.pdf

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