Lorna Slater: AS we enter the final days of the election campaign, I find it amusing that we have descended once again into arguments about how Scotland could survive as an independent country – that somehow this country couldn’t support its people without handouts from Westminster. As most people now know, I work in tidal energy. The project I have been working on has just launched the world’s biggest tidal device into Scottish waters. We were blessed with calm waters as this giant turbine made its way from Dundee, where it was assembled, to Orkney, where it will generate considerable amounts of clean energy. At 2MW, this turbine will be able to power 2000 homes using an infinite resource: the Moon’s gravitational pull. This is world-leading, cutting-edge technology, developed, assembled and installed in Scotland. And yet this success has come despite Westminster, not because of it. Scotland has huge renewables potential, but it has been held back by the UK Government’s lack of support. So after working hard for the last year on a project which has caught the attention of the world, I won’t let anyone tell me Scotland is too poor or too wee to be a successful independent nation. We are in a climate emergency, and action cannot wait until after independence. The Scottish Greens’ manifesto lays out a green infrastructure plan which would address Scotland’s climate emissions and deliver 100,000 green jobs. It’s a positive vision for the next five years and sets Scotland up for an independent future.

The National 30th April 2021 read more »

THE Scottish Greens will stress the need for urgent action on the climate as they enter the final days of campaigning ahead of the election. Co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater will be in Glasgow today near the SEC venue, which will host COP26 in November.

The National 30th April 2021 read more »

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have accused Labour, the Lib Dems and the Scottish Tories of “being too embarrassed to mention” nuclear weapons in a critique of party election manifestos. Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) has published a comparison of climate and environmental promises, pointing out that only the SNP and Greens have pledged to remove nuclear weapons from Scotland. The group says the Tories are consistently the weakest on a variety of areas of environmental policy, with just Labour and the Greens promising a statutory “just transition” commission to advise the next government. The Greens, Labour and the Lib Dems have committed to establishing a legal right to a healthy environment, while the SNP’s commitment on a range of human rights to be put into law is less specific. FoES director Dr Richard Dixon said: “This should have been the climate-emergency election. “It is now a Covid-recovery election, but it still needs to be about creating a green wellbeing economy and generating the green jobs we need to make the just transition out of fossil-fuel production.”

Morning Star 26th April 2021 read more »

SCOTTISH independence could be at risk from elite interests who ignore the climate change crisis, campaigners have warned. While one of the outcomes would be a new position in global politics, there is a danger an independent Scotland could be “captured” by those who would not challenge the current system. The warning was given yesterday at the Scottish Independence and the Path to Climate Justice workshop, organised as part of the COP26 Coalition’s Global Gathering: Taking Action Now campaign.

The National 25th April 2021 read more »

The Scottish Greens say the party will create over 100,000 jobs as part of its plans for a green recovery that cuts Scotland’s climate emissions. The jobs will come from investment in renewable energy, warm homes, public transport and restoring nature. The manifesto sets out how 10,000 jobs can be created by upgrading Scotland’s onshore wind turbines and investing in the enormous potential of tidal power, using direct subsidy to protect the Scottish supply chain. The party’s Rail for All proposals will secure 17,000 construction jobs as part of plans to integrate lower carbon railways better with the country’s public transport network, with plans to support councils to run bus services in-house so communities are better served. Restoring forests and peatlands, rewilding initiatives and expanding Scotland’s national parks would create 6,000 jobs as well as tackling Scotland’s nature emergency. And measures to retrofit homes to meet new efficiency standards and tackle fuel poverty will create 75,000 jobs for builders, roofers, plumbers, heating engineers, joiners, window fitters, insulation specialists, plasterers, electricians, painters and decorators.

Edinburgh Reporter 20th April 2021 read more »

Climate change: How Scotland has achieved much to celebrate in the last five years – Dr Richard Dixon. As a campaigner I am always after more. As soon as we win something, we want the next thing, and in the face of an existential threat as big as climate change, no response from government is ever really going to be good enough.

Scotsman 18th April 2021 read more »

Eco-activists claim Scotland could be in line for a green jobs boost within two years. Think-tank Green New Deal UK has found up to 130,000 posts could be created through renewable energy, home insulation and care jobs by 2023. The data comes from detailed analysis of the UK economy and predicts up to 60,000 posts could be created in infrastructure roles. It also found 62,000 jobs could be opened in the care sector – classed as green because they are local to communities. Hannah Martin, of Green New Deal UK, said: “We need to broaden our understanding of what makes a job green.

Daily Record 18th April 2021 read more »

Scotland must not let chance to create world-leading renewable energy industry slip through its fingers – Scotsman comment. The struggles of the former BiFab yard in Fife have become emblematic of Scotland’s stumbling efforts to fulfil its potential to become what has been described as the “Saudi Arabia of renewables”.

Scotsman 17th April 2021 read more »