Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd have backed Wales' keeping its ban on fracking, despite the Tory UK government's decision to end a mortarium in England. Labour Welsh ministers have opposed any new oil and gas extraction, including fracking, for years. The UK government argued an end to the ban was needed because of the impact of the war in Ukraine on energy supplies. But the Welsh Tory group said it will "continue to support the moratorium". A former Conservative Welsh Secretary said there is no appetite for fracking in Wales and that offshore wind has a "far bigger role to play". On Thursday the Welsh government confirmed it was not changing its policy, saying UK wide gas reserves are too small to "meaningfully" affect prices. The Welsh government opposes all oil and gas extraction, regardless of whether it uses fracking or not, because of the impact on climate change. It has held onshore licensing powers since 2018. Fracking is a way of mining gas and oil from shale rock, using a high-pressure mixture of water and sand. Concerns about earth tremors led to a moratorium on fracking in England in 2019. Janet Finch-Saunders, shadow minister for Energy, said her group "will continue to support the moratorium on fracking in Wales. "We will encourage the Welsh government to use the latest scientific evidence to direct policy in Wales." A spokesman for the Labour government said it does not support "the UK government's position on the expansion of oil and gas exploration". "We are fully committed to supporting our net zero commitments and will not support applications for hydraulic fracturing or issue new petroleum licences in Wales." In the Senedd on Tuesday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: "We will not solve the energy crisis by reverting to ways of supplying energy that have done so much damage to our planet." The Conservative manifesto for the 2019 UK... |