Now efforts to stop the development of Rosebank need to be redoubled.
“Ministers have approved plans to begin drilling in the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea after months of speculation over the decision,” reports the Independent.
Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh approved the project, saying it would “support the country’s energy security with homegrown gas this winter” – arguments that environmental campaigners dismiss as flawed.
Ami McCarthy, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, said: “Approving Jackdaw shows the toxic grip fossil fuel lobbyists still hold over our energy policy.
“Andy Burnham promised pragmatism, but there is nothing pragmatic about rubber-stamping a project that won’t lower energy bills, won’t boost energy security and will create just 27 full-time jobs.”
Fuel Poverty Action said it was “a huge blunder by Burnham to give in to the fossil fuel lobby. He should focus on cutting bills, not boosting energy giants’ profits. Reliance on fossil fuels has seen energy bills double in five years. It’s time to share the benefits of cheap-to-produce renewables.”
Labour MP Chris Hinchliff circulated a letter signed by nearly thirty MPs rebutting in detail the government’s arguments.
Nadia Whittome MP said: “Approving the drilling of Jackdaw is the wrong decision on every front. It won’t bring down bills, it creates barely any jobs, and it undermines our climate commitments.”
Momentum tweeted: “After a record-breaking drought this summer, approving gas drilling in the North Sea acts as a win for fossil fuel giants and a betrayal of our climate commitments.”
Commenting on the government’s decision to approve Jackdaw, Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, Danny Gross said: “Giving Jackdaw the green light is a huge blow to Labour’s green credentials. It comes the same day the UN warns the world must cut carbon emissions by nearly a fifth in the next four years to avoid climate catastrophe – and just weeks before the Prime Minister is due to attend the global climate talks in Turkey.
“With extreme heat, devastating floods, wildfires, droughts and rising food prices already giving us a glimpse of a future of climate chaos, the science is clear – there can be no new oil and gas if we’re to avert the worst of climate breakdown.
“Jackdaw is a bridge to nowhere. It will slow down the shift to cheaper, cleaner energy and the green jobs of the future.
“The coming months are now crucial for the government. Andy Burnham must put ordinary people before the interests of the oil and gas lobby and polluters by saying no to Rosebank and a third Heathrow runway and putting a pause on the energy-hungry data centres threatening communities and the environment. The government can’t keep allowing developments that blow holes in our carbon ambitions, fuel the climate crisis and put our future at risk.”
Richard Burgon MP agreed: “The Government has got this badly wrong. It must not repeat the same mistake with Rosebank.”
War on Want said the decision was “a devastating blow to action on climate and a huge victory for the fossil fuel industry.” It agreed that developing Rosebank would have any further adverse climate impacts, saying: “Rosebank would lock us into decades of fossil fuel extraction. Over its lifetime, it would release more climate pollution than the combined annual CO₂ emissions of the 73 lowest-emitting countries and territories. It will not deliver the affordable energy or secure future we need. Instead, it would keep us dependent on fossil fuels, boosting corporate profits while people struggle to pay their bills.”
The Stop Rosebank campaign underlined the point: “If Jackdaw is a disaster, Rosebank is catastrophic. Rosebank could release seven times more CO2e than Jackdaw. A field on this scale is fundamentally incompatible with any credible pathway to a liveable future.”
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Sea_oil_rig.jpg Source: North Sea Oil Rig. Author: Gary Bembridge from London, UK, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
