Thursday 7 March 2013
Cheap and dirty - the way to go
Not only are American households seeing lower energy bills thanks to fracking, it now transpires that the US is dumping coal they no longer want on to the international market with the result that Scottish coal miners now face redundancy because the price has dropped. Good news for the US but bad news for Scotland. Our energy policy is in a mess - we are desecrating our wild land with windfarms and yet a wave power facility in Inverness is closing, coal is cheap and plentiful and yet we are converting Cockenzie to run on gas instead. We really need to get our act together and formulate an energy policy that keeps the lights on and the bills down while sustaining Scottish jobs - just building windfarms is not going to do it. Time for the Scottish Government to recognise that clean and green is all very well but cheap and dirty is better. Otherwise the First Minister's words today about providing support to miners facing redundancy will be pretty cold comfort.
2 comments:
Thankyou for commenting. Please be aware that Calton does not have a lot of time to spend either moderating or responding to comments so it may take a day or two for your comment to appear and you won't necessarily get a reply. Disagree by all means but keep it civil - abusive or unpleasant comments will be deleted.
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It is very nice to read, "Disagree by all means but keep it civil - abusive or unpleasant comments will be deleted". However, could that not stretch to you using your real name, please? You have no need to be ashamed of your genuinely held beliefs by going anonymous. Please be brave and own them. Tim Weller
ReplyDeleteAnonymous? Ashamed??? (ruffles feathers)
DeleteActually it's a good point and one which I have considered. If I was a politician or a journalist I would probably use my own name. As it is, I am neither but I do sometimes write to my elected representatives and wanted to keep that separate from this blog. There is also a tradition of political bloggers writing under assumed names and, lastly, it's fun! Calton's opinions are mine but his personality is his own. Adding my (relatively obscure) name would not, I feel, add anything to the blog, although I will keep an open mind on the subject.