I'm almost finished looking at the green commitments in the party manifestos. Next up is the SNP, and first impressions are that it's slick and professional - it's obvious that they're dripping in money. But will that slickness be caused by a commitment to Scotland's Oil?
Their commitments are in red, my comments are in black:
ENERGY
We will increase our renewables target to 100% by 2020, ensuring 130,000 jobs are delivered in the low-carbon economy
This is a front-and-centre policy designed to attract headlines. It'll be interesting to see if this means we'll be selling the surplus from renewables + coal, as the SNP has always maintained, or if coal and nuclear will be shut off. Let's read on and find out...and three pages later, sure enough:
Scotland can produce 100% of the electricity that we need from renewables by 2020 and we will also continue to export electricity from a variety of power sources
A variety, huh?
establish a Future Generations Fund so that our energy wealth provides benefits not only for today but for Scotland into the future
The SNP have long advocated an oil fund, but this is the first time I've seen them want to integrate money earned from renewables into it - the money would come from offshore rent charged by Crown Estates
We will also encourage and support Housing Associations in their development of renewable capacity including renewable heat
We will ask the Scottish Futures Trust to develop a national financing model for renewable heat schemes. And we will also encourage the development of mutualised local energy companies
We are keen to expand public and community ownership of renewables projects and will work with investors to establish a new Scottish Green Equity Fund to support the development of community projects
We have also set a target of 2 GW renewable energy production by 2020 from the land managed on behalf of Ministers by Forestry Commission Scotland
we have confirmed 500 dedicated apprenticeships for the energy and low-carbon industry
An SNP government will also prioritise North Sea Carbon Capture with Scotland becoming a hub for technology, transportation and storage. We want Scotland not only to rule the waves with marine renewables, but to lead Europe in Carbon Capture
As I said with the Labour and LibDem manifestos, it's easy to lead in a technology that doesn't exist and doesn't look likely to. But my reading of the above commitment is that the SNP want other countries to send us their CO2 for storage as well.
Any new coal-fired station would need to demonstrate Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) on at least 300 MW of its capacity from day one and retro-fitting for those stations by no later than 2025
Having planted their CCS flag, they can't come out and say "no new coal". This comes close, but only having CCS on what could be just a fifth of a power station is ludicrous. It should cover 100% from day one, or not be built at all.
We support the expansion of local, small-scale biomass
HOUSING
we will invest £50 million in a Scotland that is greener as well as fairer, with a new Warm Homes Fund to deliver renewable energy and energy-efficient homes in those communities worst affected by fuel poverty
Does this replace the current insulation scheme or is it as well as? Because £50 million doesn't seem an awful lot of money if it's a replacement.
GOVERNMENT
speed up planning decisions...[to] act as a boost for the construction industry
This isn't a green policy per se, but it has implications (both good and bad) particularly when you consider it was the SNP who overrode local planning decisions to allow Donald Trump to build his golf course.
We will keep Scottish Water in public hands and will oppose attempts by other parties to privatise or mutualise it
We propose a Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill, which will make it easier for communities to take over underused or unused public sector assets, and include measures to enable communities to deal more effectively with derelict or unused property in their area
TRANSPORT
investment in important transport projects with a capital value of £1 billion. These are:
•the Borders Railway project
•M8 Baillieston to Newhouse, M74 Raith Junction and M8, M73 and M74 network improvements
•the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and A90 Balmedie
Roads! Build roads!
electrification of much of the central Scotland rail network and more-frequent and faster journeys between Edinburgh and Glasgow, including services of just over half an hour
Touted at every election, it's still just a pipedream for most of Scotland's rail commuters
Our proposals will also mean faster and more-frequent connections between Inverness and Aberdeen, and between these cities and the central belt
We will make the case to the UK government for [re-integration of Scotland's rail services] to take place
We will continue work to deliver the Forth Replacement Crossing
It's not a replacement. It's an additional. It's also an unnecessary white elephant.
continue development of a route strategy and improvements for the A96 and dualling the A9
Roads! Build roads!
a new integrated ticketing system for Scotland
continue with Road Equivalent Tariff on the current routes, and look to roll out to the Argyll and the Clyde islands
As I mentioned when looking at the SSP manifesto, I'm wholeheartedly in favour of the Road Equivalent Tariff, and in fact would like to see it extended to the railway network!
We will begin to develop the infrastructure to support electric cars
ENVIRONMENT
We will take action to protect and restore peatlands and will significantly expand our forest estate with the planting of 100 million trees by 2015.
bring together investment from our two existing funds into a single national Universal Home Insulation Scheme
But will you insulate ALL the homes in Scotland?
We are increasing funding for the community-focused Climate Challenge Fund in the year ahead and will maintain its funding over the next five years. And, on a trial basis, we will allow some schemes to generate an income, potentially helping projects move to a stronger financial footing and allowing funds to be used to support new projects
There's no figure on the fund increase, but it's welcome nonetheless. And so is this:
We will also establish as part of the fund a new Junior Climate Challenge Fund to encourage projects involving young Scots in their communities
we will work with communities to explore the creation of new National Parks, and seek views on Scottish participation in the UNESCO Biosphere initiative
We will introduce Zero Waste legislation during 2011, with the intention that new measures will come into force in 2013
Viewing waste as a resource opens many doors. Instead of carelessly discarding materials to landfill, we can create new products and generate renewable energy, heat and fertiliser while creating over 2,000 jobs.
Viewing waste as a resource doesn't lead to strategies to decrease that waste, but encourages governments and local authorities to increase their waste streams. After all, those new 2,000 jobs would depend on Scotland generating more and more waste!
We will also look to pilot a deposit return/reverse vending systems for single use plastic, glass and aluminium containers
We will also seek to phase out free plastic bags in supermarkets
The 25% cap on municipal waste that can be used for Energy for Waste schemes will be replaced with a package of measures, including landfill bans, mandatory segregation of certain waste types, a limit on the biodegradable content of waste that can be landfilled, and restrictions on the materials that may be input to incinerators
INCINERATOR ALERT! INCINERATOR ALERT! See my comments on "viewing waste as a resource" above.
We will keep the Forestry Commission as a publicly-owned body and our forestry estate as an asset for the nation
The UK government getting their butt kicked over forestry sell-off must have given the SNP a fright, since they've previously looked into it themselves.
FOOD
we will encourage all Scottish outlets to sell local food and drink to visitors, and will work with the industry to develop a new ‘Scottish Food Fans’ grading system for establishments that stock local and seasonal produce
We will also support efforts to establish a national chain of community-based food networks that link up local suppliers with catering outlets, cafes, hotels and retailers
We will work to ensure Scotland has more allotments. We will bring the legislation up to date to allow for the sale of surplus produce, and look at ways of extending the land available for allotments using unused or underused publicly-owned land
achieve discard-free fisheries in Scottish waters
OVERALL
The SNP sees climate change entirely in terms of business and profit. How much can we make from new technologies and energy strategies? This shines through in their manifesto - the section on energy generation is huge in comparison to other environmental commitments.
They have to realise that tackling climate change isn't all about the plug socket.
2 comments:
You missed some bits:
P.6 Future Transport Fund
This future transport initiative will see the final £50 million invested in new projects across the country designed to deliver improved connectivity and innovation in transport. This part of the fund will focus on modal shift to help more Scots move to low-carbon and active travel options. It will support an enhanced roll out of the infrastructure we need to ensure a more rapid expansion of electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads. This investment will enable a step change for Scotland to ensure that in terms of connection and climate our transport network is fit for the future and playing its part in our move to a low- carbon nation in the years ahead.
P.24 We welcome proposals for the creation of One Planet schools, and will look at ways of developing this concept. This will include action to continue the development of professional standards around sustainability education and leadership within our schools on environmental issues.
P.29 And we will increase our efforts to support developing nations as they respond to the challenges of climate change. We have heard the calls from many for Scotland to create a Climate Adaptation Fund. Given the pressures on the Scottish Government’s budget we will work with partners in business, charitable foundations and non-governmental organisations so we can co-ordinate efforts to build a Scotland-wide climate adaptation fund. And as part of our commitment to climate mitigation we will take forward initiatives to share Scottish knowledge, skills and expertise.
We have recently announced funding for an innovative scheme, in partnership with the University of Strathclyde, to deliver community-owned and maintained solar panels to provide access to renewable energy in rural Malawi. This is delivering skills, revenue and health improvements in the communities involved, and the next stage is looking at further requirements for trials ahead of a potential scaling up of the project. This is exactly the sort of action we believe is needed to deliver local energy solutions as part of our contribution to global action on climate change.
We will support the Maldives to develop renewable marine energy and go carbon neutral by 2020, and we will take forward our recently-signed agreement with the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) to promote Scottish expertise in the development of clean energy technology and projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. And, we will further develop Scotland-Malawi links, with a particular focus on food production and food science in the face of climate change. The Moredun Institute will work with Malawi to take forward this important work.
P.34 The policy statement also makes clear that increased renewable generation means we now see no energy need for additional thermal generation plants.
P.35 We want to develop our National Marine Plan for Scotland and regional marine plans to ensure a balanced use of our seas within a wider ecosystem approach. We will work with partners to explore how we can regenerate Scotland’s marine environment. This will include efforts to reduce marine litter.
There are more, but I thought these were the biggest gaps.
Politicians must earn the respect of taxpayers and voters. Broken promises and failure to reply should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
The former Shadow Health Secretary (Jackie Baillie) is a prime example.
Read the comments in this blog.
http://f2cscotland.blogspot.com/2011/03/scottish-labour-endorses-smoking-ban.html
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