MSPs have rounded on minsters for shelving a long-awaited decision on the future of fracking until after the local elections.
The Scottish Government launched a consultation on Tuesday as they weigh up whether to impose a full ban on the controversial energy extraction technique.
SNP ministers say they are gathering the “full range of evidence” ahead of delivering their verdict by the end of the year.
But opposition parties on both sides of the debate have accused the government of “kicking a final decision on fracking into the long grass”.
Scottish Labour’s environment spokeswoman Claudia Beamish said: “Voters going to the polls in May’s important local elections still won’t know the SNP’s position on fracking.
“It’s time for Nationalist ministers to get off the fence and back Labour’s call for a ban on fracking in Scotland.”
Alexander Burnett, the Scottish Conservative’s environment spokesman, said the SNP Government is being “spineless” when fracking could boost the economy and shore up power supply for Scotland.
“It’s pandering to the left of the party because it doesn’t want to lose votes in May’s council elections,” he added.
Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, involves drilling into the ground and shooting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to release gas.
A moratorium has been in place since January 2015, which temporarily forbids fracking.
Among the areas which have significant underground reserves of untapped shale gas are around Methil, Kirkcaldy and Rosyth in Fife.
Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “The Scottish Government has sought to present impartial, independent information on unconventional oil and gas in order to encourage informed dialogue and debate.
“This consultation does not set out or advocate a preferred Scottish Government position or policy. Instead, we want to create space for dialogue and allow different perspectives to come forward.
“Once the consultation closes and the responses have been independently analysed, we will then consider the full range of evidence, and make our recommendation.
“In doing so, we will give careful consideration to the extraction methods for both shale oil and gas, and coal bed methane.
“We will then ask members of the Scottish Parliament to vote on our recommendation, and we will come to a final decision by the end of 2017 on whether or not unconventional oil and gas has a role in Scotland’s energy mix.”
