HARVIE: ENERGY EFFICIENT HOMES MUST BECOME PRIORITY
Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow and housing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, is urging ministers to make energy efficient homes a national infrastructure priority.
Mr Harvie was responding to the climate change minister's statement on the third annual missed target on greenhouse gas emissions.
It comes as the IPCC warns that climate change is set to cause severe impacts unless emissions are cut sharply, and as WWF and Energy Action Scotland say the Scottish Government's proposed budget for 2015-16 does little to reduce housing emissions and fuel poverty.
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
"Stopping heat leaking from our housing stock should be a national infrastructure priority. If the Scottish Government is serious about making up lost ground after three years of missed targets it should commit to a big shift in funding.
"A third of Scotland's homes are in fuel poverty, so by investing in insulation we could cut bills for households right now as well as reduce the emissions threatening quality of life for generations to come. We'd also create thousands of high quality construction jobs.
"Ministers should stop talking up their world-leading failed targets and instead make energy efficient homes a fully-funded policy we can all be proud of."