Fracking debate ‘a distraction from the main issue’ says Manx labour spokesperson

Debates on whether taking gas from the Island’s seabed would involve ‘fracking’ are a distraction from the real issue, according to the Manx Labour Party (MLP).

Green issues coordinator Joney Faragher says regardless of the technique used, government should not be pursuing projects in the fossil fuel industry, given the climate emergency.

It comes after local company Crogga, which is surveying a find 8-10 miles off Maughold Head, denied that ‘fracking’ would be used to produce gas reserves.

It’s a statement echoed by Chief Minister Howard Quayle, though neither party has detailed exactly which extraction method will be used.

The fossil fuel is expected to ‘flow naturally’ from the conventional sandstone reservoir a mile beneath the seabed, according to Crogga.

In a statement released by her party, Mrs Faragher says attention should be focused on harnessing the Island’s ‘abundant renewable energy sources’.