Scottish Parliament to vote on the future of oil and gas production
The Tories have forced a vote on the future of oil and gas production in Scotland
The Scottish Conservatives have forced a vote in Holyrood on the future of oil and gas production in Scotland.
It follows the Cambo Oil Field project off Shetland being paused after Shell pulled out.
The production plans had faced widespread criticism, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urging the UK Government to re-consider if granting licenses for the project was the right thing to do.
Now the Tories have accused the Scottish Government of "abandoning" the oil and gas industry and risking thousands of jobs in the North East, just to appease their Green Party colleagues.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, Liam Kerr said:
“It beggars belief that the SNP are willing to abandon an industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and adds billions to our economy, simply to appease a few Scottish Green ministers in their Cabinet.
“The corrosive influence of the Greens in parliament is already costing Scottish jobs, and may well have cost us the entire Cambo project.
“This is not the ‘just transition’ that oil and gas workers were promised, this is a sudden cliff edge that risks devastating communities in the North East.
“Imported oil and gas has a carbon footprint more than twice that of domestic production, and would make it even harder for us to reach net zero.
“The SNP-Green Government’s naïve understanding of our energy needs will only force Scotland to import more energy from abroad, costing the public more and increasing emissions.
“The Scottish Conservatives believe that our oil and gas industry has a crucial role to play in our journey to net zero. The SNP’s decision to abandon the oil and gas industry in Scotland could destroy Scottish livelihoods for no environmental gain whatsoever – and the Scottish Conservatives are determined to hold the Scottish Government to account on this deeply unjust move.”
North East Green MSP Maggie Chapman says "we know the future is not an oil and gas future".
She believes it's time to focus on the transition to renewables, and not more drilling for oil and gas.
The MSP says that is in the best interest of workers.
She told Northsound: " We desperately need that just transition so oil and gas workers aren't left behind, like coal workers were in the 80's and 90's.
"We need to make sure that we get that investment right, so we not only have the energy generation coming on board but we also get the jobs and infrastructure around those jobs right as well."
The vote will take place on Wednesday (December 15th).