The Isle of Man Green Party is alarmed to hear the news that the Department of Infrastructure has granted Crogga Limited an extension of 27 months to explore for gas in the Isle of Man seabed.
The Green Party is of the view that whilst the leading science is compelling us to take immediate action to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, the Isle of Man Government is taking direct action to support fossil fuel exploration. If prospective deposits should exist, they will represent fuel that cannot be burned, in order to avoid extreme climate change that is directly impacting the Isle of Man.
On 13 January 2019, Adrian Cowin of the Isle of Man Senior Meteorological Officer, said:
“Since the mid-1980s there has been a steady rise in both the maximum average temperature and the minimum average temperatures. It is quite stunning when we graph that, that we get a change over that period of about 0.8°C-1.0°C. … A warmer climate can carry more moisture and more energy; therefore, we’re talking about the atmosphere being more turbulent, more stormy, you can end up with more gales, you can end up with more rainfall events, heavy rainfall events.”
That threat translates into an urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels today. Last year, both the International Energy Agency and the United Nations Environment Programme published reports categorically stating that there could not be any new gas exploration projects from 2021 in order to avoid extreme climate change. The decision of Minister Crookall and the Department of Infrastructure has entirely ignored that threat.
In order to understand why this decision has been made, the Green Party wrote to Minister Crookall on Thursday 5 May 2022, asking him to explain the reasons why the decision was made and to justify how it is compliant with the Departments legal duties under section 21 of the Climate Change Act 2021. See our letter HERE.
At the time of publication, no reply has been received from Minister Crookall.
The Isle of Man Green Party is a registered political party building a sustainable vision for the future of the Isle of Man. Further information can be found on the Party’s website www.greenparty.im and via email at committee@greenparty.im.