Entrepreneurs seek fast-track approval of oil shales extraction
A plan by the REM Company to launch an oil shale project in the Rotem plain of southern Israel is set for review by the Southern District Planning Committee. Currently, however, the National Planning Authority is considering transferring the project to the fast-track National Infrastructure Committee, to speed up the planning process. The move raises alarms because the process of extracting crude oil from sedimentary rock generates significant GHG and consumes vast quantities of water.
“Oil shale extraction pollutes the environment. Our immediate concern is not just the environmental damage from oil shales but also the alarming attempt to bypass proper planning safeguards,” notes Amit Bracha, executive director of Adam Teva V’Din. “The request by REM to transfer the project to the fast-track National Infrastructure Committee is an effort to bypass the thorough series of environmental checks the Southern District Committee is obliged to carry out.”
The National Infrastructure Committee exists to speed up planning approvals for project it deems essential, dealing in the main with permit request from commercial enterprises that are driven by economic interests. The National Infrastructure Committee is not obligated to conduct the broad range of environmental assessments that a major fossil fuel excavation calls for. Moreover, its decisions cannot be appealed.
Legal intervention will follow if the polluting project is fast-tracked
Adam Teva V’Din’s chief scientist, Dr Arye Vanger, stressed: “Oil shale extraction uses enormous energy to produce a highly polluting, low-grade fuel that causes severe air pollution and greenhouse gases. In this time of climate crisis, Israel must choose a different path; one that prioritizes green energy and reduces our dependence on fossil fuels.”
Attorney Bar Rozov, who is handling the case at Adam Teva V’Din, has sent a formal pretrial warning letter to the Director General of the National Planning Authority. “If the REM project application is transferred from the Southern District Planning Committee, we will launch legal proceedings. We’re not just concerned about oil shales as a polluting fossil fuel; we’re deeply alarmed by the erosion of planning checks and balances that the fast-track approach facilitates.“
