In response to last week’s Scottish Government Energy Strategy one newspaper ran a front page headline announcing the end of the oil and gas industry. The truth is less clear. The long-awaited new Strategy is a draft and public responses are …
Home insulation war effort needed
Last week an influential committee of MPs called for a national ‘war effort’ to insulate people’s homes. Although the Scottish Government has been consistently better on this that the UK Government, much more needs to be done. The Environmental Audit Committee …
The environment in 2022
In the midst of war and a cost of living crisis, some good things were achieved for the environment but we also went backwards in 2022. The climate scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produced a report on …
Nuclear at Ineos – a gift to campaigners
The talks between Ineos and Rolls Royce about siting a nuclear reactor at the Grangemouth refinery are a huge early Christmas gift to campaigners opposed to a new generation of nuclear. The idea contains the perfect combination of elements needed to …
Climate COP or fossil capture ?
As COP27 grinds slowly towards its conclusion, the battle over what any final agreement might say about fossil fuels is reaching its peak. Last year’s COP in Glasgow produced an agreement that finally actually admitted fossil fuels might be a …
Diplomacy and duplicity at the seaside
The baffling, frustrating and occasionally inspiring circus that is the UN climate talks is in full swing in the Red Sea tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Impenetrable as they are these talks are the only place countries can negotiate to act …
Funding climate action
We are facing four crisis – climate and nature emergencies, the cost of living crisis and a global poverty crisis. A new report looks at how we can raise the money and drive the behaviour change needed to reduce emissions at …
The global energy crisis and the climate
When the deadline for revised climate pledges passed last month only 23 countries out of nearly 200 had submitted something new. This deadline was agreed at the Glasgow climate talks last November and counties where supposed to propose stronger action between …
Financing climate justice
A new report I researched and wrote for Stop Climate Chaos Scotland on fiscal measure for climate action is covered in today’s Sunday Post. It looks at how we fund climate action at home and how we make our fair …
Liz Truss can just Frack Off
Liz Truss, thinks fracking can be supplying gas to the grid in just six months. This is as ridiculous as the rest of her energy plans. Of course, the UK Government were elected in 2019 on a manifesto which said they …
Energy scenarios almost point the way
The long-awaited Scottish Energy Strategy is due to come out this autumn but new energy scenarios published this week contain some things to welcome but also some worrying ideas. The current Energy Strategy was published in 2017. It contains two scenarios, …
Sizewell C decision surely a joke
Approving another nuclear power station when we should be doing everything to reduce energy prices is surely a joke. Reports at the weekend said that Boris Johnson had approved government funding of £6bn towards the £20-30bn estimated cost for the …