The Scottish Greens are urging the next UK Government to support a shift to 100% renewable energy, highlighting the urgent need to address climate change. The debate over Scotland’s energy future, including differing proposals from political parties, takes centre stage in the lead-up to the election.
The Scottish Greens have called for the next UK Government to support the transition to 100% renewable energy. On the eve of polling day, co-leader Lorna Slater emphasized that climate change is the most urgent issue facing the incoming Prime Minister after July 4. She highlighted the increasing environmental destruction and pointed to Scotland’s potential with its green businesses, skilled workforce, and natural resources.
Slater advocated for a £28 billion annual Green New Deal to invest in future clean industries. Contrarily, Scottish Tory net zero spokesman Douglas Lumsden argued that abandoning oil and gas jobs and ruling out nuclear energy, as proposed by the Greens and SNP, isn’t viable given current renewable energy capacities.
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray presented a different approach, proposing a publicly-owned energy company funded by a windfall tax, aiming to create 69,000 clean energy jobs. The discussion of Scotland’s energy future forms a significant part of the broader election debates, with various visions for tackling the climate crisis and economic transitions in play.
