Scot Gov Economic Action Plan contradictory & irresponsible, warns Harvie
The Scottish Government’s new Economic Action Plan is contradictory and irresponsible, according to Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP.
The plan promises to prioritise “fair work” but it also talks up “20 billion barrels of oil...for the next 20 years” despite this month’s warning from the UN panel on climate change that we have just 12 years left to limit climate catastrophe. The Action Plan also talks up unsustainable transport spending such as motorway expansion.
Patrick Harvie, Economy spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Glasgow, said:
“SNP Ministers cannot continue to be both for maximum extraction of climate-wrecking fossil fuels and the transition to a low-carbon economy. Now more than ever, in light of the IPCC report this month, they have to pick a side.
“Talking up decades more oil and gas, which everyone from the UN to the Governor of the Bank of England knows we have to leave in the ground, is not a responsible course of action for our economy. And trumpeting the expansion of the motorway network shows ministers’ outdated thinking, when there are multiple benefits to be had from prioritising public transport and shifting freight from road to rail.
“Scottish Greens have long argued for government to use its business support muscle to restrict companies that treat employees badly or carry out work that damages society. Tougher talk on the Fair Work agenda must result in action. SNP Government agencies are content to give public money to firms involved in the arms trade, even those arming the brutal Saudi regime, and a glossy document won’t solve that problem.”