‘Disgraceful’ Jackdaw decision ‘puts more people at risk’

Campaigners say the UK Government would “deliberately put hundreds of thousands more people at risk” by approving the Jackdaw gas field.  
 
Jackdaw owners Shell and Equinor admit that the gas field is expected to create just 27 full-time jobs whilst campaigners say chasing new oil and gas is a “distraction” from the urgent need to plan a transition for oil workers into secure long term green jobs. Household energy bills are the highest they have been in four years, largely due to the cost of gas, which is set internationally; approving Jackdaw will not reduce people’s energy bills. 

Fossil fuel burning is the main driver of climate breakdown, which makes extreme weather and man-made disasters more likely and more dangerous.  This was the UK’s hottest summer, with deadly heatwaves killing almost 3000 people in May and June. Globally, it was the joint warmest August on record.  

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns Caroline Rance said: 

“The UK Government has chosen to put hundreds of thousands more people at risk from fuel poverty and extreme weather by approving new gas drilling. Giving Jackdaw the green light is guaranteeing more climate impacts like the deadly heatwaves and wildfires in the UK this summer, and the devastating floods in Nepal. Every extra bit of gas that stays in the ground is important, because every fraction of a degree matters to people who are suffering from the impacts of a rapidly heating world. 

“The Jackdaw field will bring just 27 jobs and is a distraction from planning a fair and fast transition for workers that recognises the reality that the oil and gas in the North Sea is rapidly running out. Fossil fuel jobs are in terminal decline, so Ministers should be creating a plan with workers that gives them training and opportunities to move into green jobs. The skills and experiences of oil workers are essential in building the renewable energy system we need.” 

“The longer we rely on gas for electricity and heating, the longer we will be trapped into the cycle of sky-high energy bills and fuel poverty. Approving a gas field that will provide just 2% of the UK’s gas demand is a sticking plaster over a gaping wound. We need to start pricing our energy based on cheap, abundant renewables and free ourselves from the polluting and expensive legacy of gas. 

“Jackdaw must be the last new oil and gas field opened in the UK. Rosebank and any other new projects must be firmly rejected by the UK Government. Oil and gas cannot be made compatible with our climate commitments.” 

“Oil companies have spent their record profits on a sustained campaign of political and media lobbying to pressure the Government into ignoring the evidence of climate breakdown. It is a disgrace that politicians would put the profits of oil company shareholders and bosses above the safety of everyone else.”  

“Instead of new drilling, politicians should be championing climate solutions that improve lives and cut the use of fossil fuels.  This means insulating leaky homes to cut energy bills, making buses and trains the quick and affordable option for more people and it means creating new careers in green industries that have a long-term future.”