Westminster View - Taking control of Scotland’s own energy future
It’s time to change the way we talk about energy in Scotland. It’s time to be positive about our energy future, writes Lara Bird MP
At the SNP conference, our resolution, ‘It’s Scotland’s Energy’, was passed overwhelmingly. It set out a principle: Scotland has the resources, skills and ambition to shape its own energy future.
In Angus, that future is taking shape. Seagreen, off our coast, is Scotland’s largest operational offshore wind farm. Kinblethmont Solar Park, near Arbroath, shows the renewable potential on our doorstep.
But we cannot talk about that future without talking about people whose livelihoods depend on energy today. Arbroath businesses including Pioneer Oil Tools, Halliburton, K G Technical Services and Reekie Steeltec are part of the specialist expertise supporting the oil and gas industry. Those workers, their skills and experience must be at the heart of Scotland’s next chapter.
We have seen what happens when industrial communities bear the cost of economic change. Labour’s betrayal of workers at Grangemouth and the closure of Mossmorran’s ethylene plant underline the need for a serious industrial strategy.
A just transition must mean more than promises. It must protect jobs, retain skills and attract investment while building renewable industries that will sustain Scotland for generations.
We must also be honest about the choices before us. Our dependence on oil and gas has not fallen in line with production, and renewables have not expanded quickly enough. While demand remains, we must ask whether we meet it domestically, supporting jobs, or import oil and gas with a higher carbon impact.
Scotland’s oil wealth should have helped build the renewable industries of the future. Fifty years ago, Labour had the opportunity to reinvest that wealth in Scotland’s future, but failed to do so.
The consequences are still felt today: our renewable industries have not received the investment and support they deserved. We must ensure every penny of a future energy wealth fund is reinvested in Scotland’s renewable future. With the right choices, we can protect livelihoods while creating the industries and opportunities of tomorrow.