Romanian and Bulgarian Greens Ask Government to Oppose Exploitation of Shale Gas
Bulgarian and Romanian Greens have demanded that the Romanian government of Victor Ponta follow the lead its neighbours and oppose shale gas development.
In a joint press conference, the leaders of these parties, Antonio Momoc from the Green Party in Romania and Borislav Sandoval, co-chairman of the Greens in Bulgaria (Zelen), explained how the civil society in Bulgaria had rallied to the side of the people of Bârlad, Constantza and Vama Veche, areas targeted for the exploitation of shale gas.
In January, Bulgaria had put in place restrictions aimed at banning the process of hydraulic fracturing used in the extraction of unconventional gases such as shale gas.
The Green leaders said that Bulgarian civil society was ready to assist Romanian opponents of shale gas development to convince legislators not approve shale gas operations.
Sandov presented several arguements as to why the exploitation of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing is dangerous.
The Green leader pointed out there was not a rich hydrographic basin in the area of Southern Dobrudjea where extraction was planned, placing ground water, the main source of drinking water in the region which counts a million of citizens, at risk. He also noted that agriculture relys on the same water source.
Sandov also pointed to concerns about seismic activity and the risk that hydraulic fracturing can generate earthquakes.
"Our strong argument against the Bulgarian politicians to vote such a bill which does not allow this type of operation was that drilling using large amounts of water, affecting agricultural land by contamination, the fractures which occur in soil can lead to earthquakes, "said Sandoval.
The Green leader explained how Bulgarian civil society has convinced politicians after six months of protests and campaigns against the subject. Opponents collected 52,000 signatures against the exploitation of shale gas and upwards of 10,000 people protested in Sofia.
"It was an example of mobilization of Bulgarian citizens to protect the environment," added the Bulgarian representative.
Green Party leader in Romania, Antonio Momoc, said that Romanians should try to stop the exploitation of shale gas, being an environmental issue which affects the resources of the entire country.
"The neighbors at the South of the Danube were able to impose to Parliament in Sofia a moratorium on this devastating practice. Bârlad and Constantza civil society called the greens from Bulgaria to support them with expertise, documents. If the government's plan is to make these operations it should be organized some public debates with Bulgarian neighbors and people in the area (...). We have to obtain environmental approval also from neighbors. After the success of the Bulgarians, we want at the Government Ponta to keep their word and not allow such drilling operations, "said Momoc.
Momoc reminded that it is ready to mobilize civil society to protest against these operations in the affected areas: Vama Veche, Constantza, Bârlad and Bucharest.
"If the government does not listen to civil society, the only solution will be street movements. We do not want to politicize this action, but we notice that there are affected agriculture, food, human health, "said Romanian greens leader.
During his weekly press conference, Romanian Prime Minister Ponta was asked on specifics as to when legislation would be adopted imposing a moratorium on shale gas development, as he promised at the beginning of his electoral term.
Ponta replied: " Well no, the moratorium is a government decision and, as you know very well, it hasn't released any new exploration licenses. This means moratorium, right? "
Silviu Molnar