Unconventional oil and gas consultation: analysis of responses

Annex 2: Petition texts

38 Degrees online petition

This online petition was posted on the 38 Degrees website offering people the opportunity to sign and / or add a comment in support of the following statement. For the purpose of the analysis, the petition statement is seen as relating to Question 10 in the consultation questionnaire.

To Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Energy Minister

Petition text

Permanently ban fracking in Scotland

Why is this important?

The Scottish Government's own reports show that fracking could:

• pose a risk to health
• contaminate water
• hit house prices
• increase traffic in nearby communities
• and make it harder to meet climate targets

The Scottish Government is considering the future of fracking in Scotland. It is vital they ban fracking to protect Scotland's people and environment from a dangerous form of energy extraction.

Change.org online petition

This petition was posted on Change.org by Torrance resident Ruth Dunster, inviting people to sign in support of the following statement. For the purpose of the analysis, the petition statement is seen as relating to Questions 9 and 10 in the consultation questionnaire.

Tell Scottish Cabinet Ministers to ban fracking in Scotland NOW.

Letter to

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown MSP

Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Paul Wheelhouse MSP

Minister for Environment Roseanna Cunningham MSP

We, the undersigned, respectfully ask you to use your powers to ban fracking in Scotland. We are deeply alarmed about its consequences for Scotland.

If we don't get an outright ban on fracking in Scotland now, we may lose our chance to prevent it. Across Scotland people are waking up to what a devastating effect this would have on our land, our health, and our communities.

The following background information was provided:

I live in Torrance, a beautiful village in a scenic, unspoilt valley in Scotland. I found out last year that Ineos Upstream Ltd have plans for a fracking operation here – and in a whole swathe of communities in other areas across Scotland. Fracking is a process which forces water deep underground at very high pressure to force gas to the surface. It has an appalling and frightening track record around several countries, especially the USA and Australia.

The Scottish Government is already being lobbied by powerful companies like Ineos to move away from our renewable energy strategy and invest in this toxic and dangerous industry instead. Please tell the Ministers responsible for energy and environment policies that we want Scotland to invest in renewable energy technologies and refuse to grant fracking licenses to companies like Ineos Upstream.

Scotland is at the turning point. Either we invest in the sort of technologies out there for clean, cheap energy – like Norway's huge hydro power scheme which creates most of their energy – or we go down the toxic energy road of the fracking business lobby's plans.

Some key points you might want to know:

• The Scottish Government's moratorium is just a temporary ban while the government considers their options – and gets lobbied by fracking big business in the mean time
• Chemical spills and land and water pollution persuaded New York state, France and Bulgaria to ban the fracking industry outright. The public health impact on communities seen in evidence like the USA documentary 'Groundswell Rising,' and Dr Geralyn McCarron's Australian medical study 'Symptomatology of a Gas Field,' completely dispel the myth that fracking is safe. Have a look on Youtube for clips of the film, and google the report.
• Research near fracking plants has documented regular earth tremors caused by fracking – houses with cracks in their walls, property values falling, meaning nobody wants to live or invest there any more. It's already happened in Blackpool and in places like Oklahoma right across the USA and Canada, 'man made seismic activity' been getting worse and worse
• Recent documentaries like 'Gasland' filmed residents taking a match and setting fire to methane gas coming out of their kitchen taps
• Scotland's economy doesn't need this to create jobs – instead, if we make the right choices, we can invest in the exciting and very successful new renewable energy technologies being developed just now. And invest in already successful and growing Scottish industries – like video games, bioscience, and financial and banking services. And of course tourism and whisky. We can have a successful clean economy.
• Last but not least – this is one huge step back to the fossil fuels we're trying to eradicate to cut down our carbon emissions. It's not a 'cleaner,' 'transition' fuel – it has lower CO ₂ levels than coal burning (though it is still sizeable) but the methane gas emitted is a much more serious greenhouse gas. Do we really want to speed up global warming which threatens our planet and our survival?
• For more information see frack-off.org.uk, Youtube clips of the documentaries Gasland, Groundswell Rising and Frackman, FB Scotland Against Fracking and numerous local anti-fracking FB groups, and the impartial research digest drillordrop.com.

Children's petition

This petition was organised by Friends of the Earth, West Fife branch. Signatures were gathered at the Dunfermline Fresh Air Festival held on 27 May 2017. For the purpose of the analysis, the petition statement is seen as relating to Question 10 in the consultation questionnaire.

Please Mr Wheelhouse, can you ban fracking coz my daddy says it's not nice and I want somewhere nice to play.

Our Forth petition

This (hard-copy) petition was organised by Portobello-based Our Forth, and was circulated in local communities inviting people to sign in support of the following statement. For the purpose of the analysis, the petition statement is seen as relating to Questions 7 and 10 in the consultation questionnaire.

No Unconventional Gas in our Forth

By signing this petition we, the undersigned, ask the Scottish Government for the following:

• 1. Underground Coal Gasification to be included in the Scottish Government's Moratorium on Unconventional Gas Extraction.
• 2. This moratorium to be turned into a complete ban on Unconventional Gas Extraction in Scotland.
• 3. We would also demand that a 2 kilometre buffer one between any unconventional gas developments and communities be set to take immediate, and permanent effect irrespective of any decision taken in future by the Scottish Government.

Scotland Against Fracking petition

This (hard-copy) petition was organised by Falkirk-based Scotland Against Fracking and circulated in local communities inviting people to sign in support of the following statement. For the purpose of the analysis, the petition statement is seen as relating to Question 10 in the consultation questionnaire.

For the attention of the democratically elected Government of Scotland

On behalf of the people, we the undersigned, as citizens of democratic Scotland demand that no hydraulic fracturing, coal bed methane or underground coal gasification be permitted anywhere within the country of Scotland. To proceed goes against the democratic will of the people and the government have either sought or been granted sufficient licence to allow unconventional gas extraction to go ahead.