East Lothian Council must have the courage to be more ambitiousShona McIntosh
Dave Berry’s recent column in East Lothian Courier called attention to rising sea levels and how that might impact on East Lothian. Dave is right to point out that we might face difficult decisions in the future about what to protect and what might have to be given up.
However, his assessment of how much the water levels are likely to rise was a little optimistic.
The most recent IPCC report looks over the longer-term and gives, by the end of the century, a range of 0.5m (in a best-case #emissions scenario) up to the catastrophic 2m (under a worse case projection of continuing fossil fuel consumption).
Against a backdrop of a possible new oilfield at Cambo, repeated missed Scottish government targets on emissions reduction, and a UK government apparently now set on burning hydrogen to wean us off coal, we must admit we are not on track to enact this better-case scenario.
But we still have a window of opportunity. Rather than give up on Fisherrow or any seafront property with a cellar (as implied by the former Council leader!) we should use this as motivation to hasten the change that must come.
East Lothian Council must have the courage to be more ambitious about its own decarbonisation, and it must use all the tools available to it, including on travel, infrastructure and planning decisions, to support all East Lothian residents make the shift to low-carbon lives.
Comment by East Lothian Greens member Shona McIntosh. To read the original article visit: https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/.../19512246.dave.../