Environmentalists happy with fracking decision
Posted Sep 3, 2014 04:24:23 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Some environmentalists and a Dalhousie scientist were ecstatic at Wednesday’s announcement that fracking will be banned in Nova Scotia.
“It’s not often that the government actually heeds community messages,” said Jennifer West with the Ecology Action Centre. “We’re really celebrating the fact that the government has listened to the people of Nova Scotia.”
West and her supporters had tears in their eyes as they cheered and hugged following the announcement.
“The people are not going to take these environmental injustices lightly anymore,” she said. “I think that this process has really shown that the people can organize, the people are informed and educated, and they are willing to take a stand for what they believe in.”
She said some members of her group have been working on this for four years, and today marks a huge victory for the group.
Nova Scotia’s energy minister, Andrew Younger, made the announcement Wednesday afternoon, saying his government heard the message from Nova Scotians loud and clear.
“Nova Scotians have indicated that, by a wide margin, they are concerned about hydraulic fracturing, and they do not want it as part of onshore development of shales in Nova Scotia at this time,” he said.
Younger said he waded through hundreds of letters from people on both sides of the debate, and the overwhelming majority of them said they just didn’t know enough about fracking.
Tom Duck with Dalhousie’s department of physics and atmospheric science was at the announcement. He said it’s a big day for Nova Scotia.
“We really do need to make progress on decarbonizing the economy gradually,” said Duck. “This means moving away from fossil fuel based energy resources and onto more renewable, low carbon energy sources. This is a good step in that direction.”
Younger said the ban was neither permanent, nor time-limited, and that when more information becomes available, his government will facilitate debate across the province.
