Shannon
LNG - Official Petition Against Development Consent for US
Fracked Gas Import Terminal in Ireland by New Fortress Energy - Have your say
'Safety
Before LNG' has launched a grass-roots petition
inviting signatures from people everywhere against the US
fracked gas import terminal proposed in Ireland by New Fortress Energy.
Please feel free to add your name using the form below or by clicking here
The list of 1,545 signatories was officially lodged with the Irish
Planning Authorities on October 22nd, 2021 and this petition will be kept open until the planning process is completed.
The
list of signatories will be officially lodged with the Irish Planning
Authorities by hand on or before the deadline of October 22nd, 2021 and
this is the only practical way to be part of this process because
online submissions are not accepted. If your group or organisation
wants to lodge a more detailed submission, then please send it to us
and we can print it out and deliver it by hand before the deadline date
also if that suits you better. Can you also help us to
promote this please? This time we are looking for ordinary people as
well as groups to add their names and it would be very, very helpful
for us to have hundreds of names from the affected communities in the
US and worldwide because we do not want Ireland to be an overseas
market for US fracked gas. It would also undermine our campaign of
support for a call for a global ban on fracking being proposed by
Ireland at the United Nations General Assembly on climate-mitigation,
public-health, environmental-protection and human-rights grounds. Would you please maybe consider sharing word of this petition on the following posts on Facebook and/or Twitter? https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4432859480141842&id=1742505752510575
https://twitter.com/SafetyBeforeLng/status/1446058996952092676
This
is the following code to be embedded in web pages to have the google
form directly visible. Can you possibly get it embedded on your
websites please as this would get great traction? <iframe
src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQxKtOQ7DlGl1Kc0AzvGt1H9Q_mr__YNTURhh_MVl1n7KTFQ/viewform?embedded=true"
width="640" height="1462" frameborder="0" marginheight="0"
marginwidth="0">Loading…</iframe> This
will be the only realistic means for ordinary people to make an
observation to this so-called Strategic Infrastructure planning
application, given that a submission cannot be done online and costs
€50 per submission. What is different about this petition
is that the comments and names are visible for everyone to see and that
makes the process very public. Update on the Global Ban A big thanks to all who helped get over 760 groups
worldwide to supported a call for a global ban on fracking being
proposed by Ireland at the United Nations General Assembly on
climate-mitigation, public-health, environmental-protection and
human-rights grounds.
On May 18th, 2021, the Irish Government published
its long-awaited policy statement against the importation of
fracked gas as was agreed in the 'Programme For Government 2020'.
We are delighted with the statement in this historic, world's-first,
anti-fracked gas import policy statement
that "the Government will work with international partners to promote
the phasing out of fracking at an international level" and now want the
government to move immediately to implement this new policy by agreeing
to propose a resolution calling for a global ban on fracking at the
United Nations.
The policy statement declared that “the
highest risk of fracked gas being imported into Ireland on a
large-scale would be via liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, if any
were to be constructed.” It went on to state that “pending the outcome
of the review of the security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity
and natural gas systems, it would not be appropriate for the
development of any LNG terminals in Ireland to be permitted or
proceeded with”.
Just over three months later, however, on
August 27th, 2021, without waiting for the energy review to be
completed, New Fortress Energy insisted on reapplying
for an offshore LNG terminal on the Shannon Estuary in Ireland (called
Shannon LNG) which would be used exclusively for the importation of US
fracked gas. We think that the company is trying to take advantage of
its status as a European-Union-listed Project of Common Interest (PCI)
which, under Article 7 of the PCI regulation 347/2013,
has the “status of the highest national significance possible and be
treated as such in permit granting processes”. This status is due to
expire in early 2022.
This application for a US fracked gas
import terminal in Ireland must be stopped as it will undermine
our attempts to get Ireland to propose a call for a global ban on
fracking at the United Nations General assembly.
On July 27th, 2021, The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney TD, made the following written reply in the Dáil: “The
Programme for Government makes clear that the Government does not
support the importation of fracked gas. Following upon a commitment in
the Programme for Government, the Government published a Policy
Statement on May 2021 which outlines both constraints and opportunities
for Government action in this area, including in the context of
Ireland's obligations as a Member State of the European Union.
In
relation to the United Nations General Assembly it is important that
any proposed Resolution garner sufficient Member State support to be
passed by a clear majority in the General Assembly. At this time I do
not believe from our soundings on the ground that this support
currently exists. A failed Resolution would set back progress on this
important issue. The work of building support must continue. Nevertheless,
the Government is committed to taking action in ways which are
consistent with the proposed Resolution. In the short term, the
revision of the European Union’s Gas Directive and Gas Regulation
provides an opportunity to build consensus within the EU, itself an
important constituency for any work at the UN. Separately, upcoming
climate related events provide an opportunity to advance understanding
of international dynamics around this proposal. Such events include the
United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Energy in September 2021, the
Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity to be held in October 2021 (COP15), the Conference of Parties
to United National Framework Convention on Climate Change in November
2021 (COP26), the Conference of Parties to the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (date TBC), and the United Nations
Ocean Conference to be held in 2022. This will complement Ireland's
engagement on the Climate and Security agenda during our term on the
Security Council.” At this point in time, the best way for us to
continue “building support” for a global ban on fracking being proposed
at the United Nations is to stop the Shannon LNG/New Fortress Energy US
fracked gas import terminal from getting development consent in spite
of stated Irish Government policy. A win here would send out a message
to the entire world that Ireland does not want to be an overseas market
for US fracked gas. We are therefore objecting in the strongest
manner possible to any development consent being granted to Shannon LNG
on planning, climate-mitigation, public-health,
environmental-protection and human-rights grounds and need your support. We need the petition to be seen everywhere please. Please get back to me if you have any questions and thank you in advance for any help you can give with this. , John McElligott ‘Safety Before LNG’
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Contact:
John McElligott
Tel: 087-2804474
[email protected]
www.SafetyBeforeLNG.ie
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