Scottish Labour Party Mulls Introducing Legal Ban on Fracking

Scottish Labour Party on Friday announced the initiative to introduce a legal ban on hydraulic fracturing activities, known as fracking, gaining support from the local environmental groups, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The party's climate change spokeswoman Claudia Beamish announced her bill outside the regional parliament calling on Scotland's government to tighten the existing legislation, which implied only moratorium on fracking, The Scotsman newspaper reported.

The newspaper added that the announcement of the proposal had been welcomed by local environmentalists, such as the Friends of the Earth Scotland group, who participated in the rally dedicated to the announcement of the plan.

According to the media outlet, the Labour Party's bill could be supported by the representatives of the Greens and Liberal Democrats, but the Conservatives would likely oppose it.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique of extracting shale gas and oil by injecting pressurized toxic liquid into the ground. Opponents of fracking argue the process poses numerous health, safety and environmental risks, including the potential for fracking fluids and waste to leak into water as well as the large volume of water used.

The Scottish government announced its moratorium on fracking in January 2015.