Moratorium

Yesterday the Scottish government announced a moratorium on all planning consents for extraction of unconventional oil and gas, which is great news.  What a contrast with Westminster, who voted down a UK-wide moratorium on Monday,  In the vote, the majority of SNP MPs voted for the moratorium, while Scottish Labour MPs abstained.  I think that tells us a lot about what we can expect from Labour in Scotland should they get into power.

Of course, a moratorium isn't an outright ban,  It's simply a breathing space where evidence will be gathered and examined, allowing a decision to be taken at a later date.  Still, it's a step in the right direction, and demonstrates that the Scottish government is at least willing to listen. 

Scotland has the potential to lead the world in alternative power generation - wind and wave power for example.  That being the case, it makes a lot more sense to follow that path rather than destroy our land and poison our water by pursuing fracking and gas extraction from coal beds.