YOUR VIEWS: Renewable energy in the Highlands, help for businesses and music at Inverness Castle
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Readers share a variety of views on the issues of the day.
So many reasons renewables must be embraced
After reading Fergus Ewing’s cleverly worded article (Inconvenient truths in the battle for energy future, Courier, 25/4/23) you would almost believe that, yes, there is no doubt we should be issuing as many new oil and gas licences as we can and giving the oil field at Rosebank the go ahead. But before doing that let’s examine the facts.
The oil and gas that Mr Ewing proposes we extract from the North Sea is not Scottish or UK oil and gas, it is owned by billion dollar profiting international companies like Equinor, Exxon, Shell and BP who sell their oil and gas on the international markets at the highest price. Therefore, approximately 80 per cent of the oil and gas from the North Sea is exported abroad and gives Scotland very little energy security, whereas renewables would. So Mr Ewing is incorrect when saying there would be less emissions produced if we start new oil and gas fields because we would not have to import it. Chris Skidmore MP who led the review of the UK’s climate goals said that approving Rosebank would undermine the science and the UK’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis and blow the UK’s carbon budget and any chance of net zero.
Mr Ewing has also conveniently avoided the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s climate scientist advisors to the United Nations (UN), just released their report giving a “final warning” on the climate crisis: act now or it’s too late, with new oil and gas fields incompatible with agreed climate targets. Antonio Guterres the UN Secretary General also stated that it would be “moral and economic madness” to fund new coal, oil and gas projects.
Investing billions in new polluting oil and gas projects suggested by Mr Ewing only reduces the amounts that should be invested in clean renewable energy. Also if Mr Ewing was truly interested in creating new local jobs he would be pushing for more investment in the expanding renewables industry and a just transition for existing oil and gas workers to be retrained rather than trying to generate a few hundred jobs in the doomed industry that is polluting our planet.
Yes we still need oil and gas but we currently have oil and gas reserves that are in excess of the amount the IPCC and UN say we can burn to keep CO2 emissions below the point that will cause global warming to go beyond the critical 1.5 degrees C. We therefore need to stop new investments in oil and gas and invest in clean, cheap renewables that give us energy security.
So after reading Mr Ewing’s article we must ask ourselves why would a politician who ignores the leading climate change authorities and all the scientific evidence on the climate crisis, side with greenwashing billion-dollar oil and gas companies, whose only aim is to make as much profit as possible?
Extinction Rebellion Highlands & Islands and Moray
Hospitality desperately needs help
What more difficult business area can there be in Scotland right now than hospitality in the Highlands?
There is barely a café, pub or hotel that is not desperately seeking staff across the Highlands this summer. And we all have horror stories of new employees not turning up for their first day at work, or being seduced by a higher pay offer elsewhere a month after starting.
Hospitality has three major costs, the largest of these is staff. The living wage is rising by 9.7 per cent, and the introduction of NEST, the national pension plan, increases wage bills. I’d say hospitality payroll cost have risen by 30 per cent since 2019. And that’s only if staff are available. It seems every potential employee is being fought over by every business in town, and staff from outwith the area cannot find accommodation.
Where are all the workers? The Fraser of Allander Institute reports the labour market inactivity due to ill health and disability in Scotland is 32 per cent. And there has definitely been a move away from the antisocial hours worked in hospitality to that offered at desk jobs. Many government employees are still working from home, are comparatively well paid, with excellent holidays and pensions... what’s not to like?
In part due to the war in Ukraine food prices have risen steeply, up 19 per cent over the last year. It’s very difficult to pass on this sort of increase. Butter, olive oil, grain based products, chicken and eggs have all soared in price.
Hospitality requires a lot of energy; heating and kitchens consume the kilowatts as fast as you can watch the meter spin around. Yes, the war in Ukraine is again a key reason but judging from the obscene profits of the oil companies and utilities there is a lot of profiteering going on. The wholesale price of electricity has fallen dramatically since the high at Christmas but that is still not being reflected in our bills.
Since the end of government support everyone is shouldering big energy bills.
What can the government do to help? Well, Westminster has given a 75 per cent rates relief to businesses in the hospitality sector. This has not happened in Scotland.
Stephen Boyle, the auditor general claims that over a £1 billion of Covid business support passed over by Westminster to the Scottish Government had not been accounted for.
We need to nurture our small hospitality. Hospitality is the major business area of the Highlands and most companies are on a knife edge.
I am a director of two businesses that include restaurants, I face these issues every day.
Angus MacDonald
Liberal Democrat Westminster Candidate
Great news for live music at the castle
Delighted to read Inverness Castle will host live music from the Highlands as part of its cultural offerings. The loss of Ironworks is still deeply felt.
James Rorison
Skye Court
Inverness
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