Debate contribution: Ban Petroleum Licensing and Fracking

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 29 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

29 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Ban Petroleum Licensing and Fracking

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4486654

Read the official Assembly record

Text

In virtually every corner of these Six Counties, there is an environmental disaster that has been ignored, encouraged or caused by successive Stormont Administrations. Look at the illegal dump at Mobuoy, where contaminated waste pollutes Derry's waterways. Look to the Sperrins, which Dalradian, with security provided by the PSNI, wants to strip through toxic gold-mining. We see algal growth in Lough Neagh, with Stormont providing financial incentives for industrial farmers to pollute our drinking water and continuing to allow legal and illegal sand extraction. We saw DAERA grant licences for seven gas caverns, which have the potential to create a dead zone for plants and animals. Recently, we saw DUP and UUP councillors conspiring to grant permission for an oil terminal and biofuel refinery at Cloghan Point at Whitehead. When you total all that, this state is an emblem of how not to treat the environment. It is a glaring example of what happens when the Government put the profits of energy giants, beef barons and all shades of industrialists above our natural resources. For every issue that I have listed, there are grassroots campaigners in communities across the North who are pushing back against it, determined to save the environment from the ravages of a broken system and ensure the rights of nature. As a wealthy minority, backed by complicit Governments, bring us hurtling towards environmental catastrophe, tireless activists are fighting back against them every step of the way. It is fair to say that the proposals to ban fracking and petroleum exploration would not be in front of us today were it not for the efforts of those campaigners, including those from Belcoo Frack Free in County Fermanagh and so many others. It goes without saying that I support today's motion, but it is unacceptable for the Executive to run with the hare and hunt with the hound when it comes to our environment. We need urgent action across the board to reduce emissions and stop the earth's temperature from rising to apocalyptic levels. That means keeping all carbon in the soil. Banning fracking is good, but it is not good enough if, on the other hand, the Government allow gas companies to dig gas caverns under Larne lough. The Government should not allow an oil terminal to be constructed at Cloghan Point, and I echo the call for the Infrastructure Minister to intervene and overturn the decision on that harmful planning proposal. Cutting emissions will require an AERA Minister who is prepared to challenge the big farmers, whose livestock drive up emissions and simultaneously fuel the crisis at Lough Neagh. I have not yet seen any evidence that the current Minister is willing to do that. Stormont cannot stand by as the Sperrins, a crucial carbon sink, are blown up in the pursuit of gold. Sooner or later, the Executive will have to grasp the nettle if they are serious about the future of the planet. Every Department has an obligation under the Climate Change Act to act consistently in reaching its emission targets. From what I have seen so far, many are failing at that basic task. We have an Infrastructure Minister who has still not fully ruled out ending free public transport for people over 60, which would force more people into cars. As we speak, the AERA Minister is talking about pausing much-promised action to deal with the pollution at Lough Neagh, which is intrinsically linked to the need to cut farming emissions and pollution. Those are just some of many examples. There are logical and sensible arguments for keeping all carbon — oil, gas and petroleum — in the ground. There is no room for error if we are to avoid mass extinction. The economic arguments about job creation from the fossil fuel industry have been absolutely shattered. Frankly, they were always bogus. We only have to look at the Stormont consultation on onshore petroleum licensing, which points to the fact that the economic benefits are negligible. The only people whom it benefits are, as always, the wealthy minority who profit from the destruction of our planet. Air quality, public health and mental and physical well-being are all being sacrificed to line the pockets of a few. We need a strategy for change, but it must put working-class people in the driving seat. We need a just transition to ensure that those working in the fossil fuel industry, in farming, in aviation and elsewhere are reskilled and given opportunities for green jobs. We need to ensure that the wealthy minority, whose interests are driving the climate crisis, are forced to pay for the transition to a greener economy so that working people are not punished for the destruction that was wrought by others. The new Executive need to, as a bare minimum, urgently bring forward a climate action plan and firmly commit to meeting the emissions targets set out in the Climate Change Act. I welcome a ban on fracking and petroleum extraction, but I also encourage —

— activists to keep up the fight and to keep campaigning.

846 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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