Scottish Greens condemn Scottish Government’s decision on climate-wrecking Peterhead gas plant
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman has condemned the Scottish Government’s reckless decision to approve a new gas-fire power plant, which threatens to blow a hole in Scotland's climate targets.
After 4 years, Scottish Government Ministers have approved plans by SSE Thermal and Equinor to build a new climate-wrecking plant at Peterhead Power Station.
The new power station will be equipped with carbon capture technology (CCS), a controversial and experimental technology that has consistently failed to live up to its lofty promises.
With CCS unlikely to operate at scale, the new power station threatens to upend Scotland's progress on meeting its net zero target.
Maggie said:
“Year after year, Peterhead power station has been Scotland’s largest source of climate pollution, and instead of tackling that and reducing its impact, the government has decided to expand it.
“At a time when we should be accelerating the shift to a renewables-powered energy economy, the Scottish Government is now locking Scotland into decades more fossil fuel dependency, based on unproven, expensive carbon capture and storage schemes that simply cannot deliver the rapid emissions cuts we need.
“Instead of expanding what is already Scotland’s most polluting site, the Scottish Government should be investing in long-term high-value and high-skilled green jobs and grasping the huge opportunities we have for renewable energy.
“It is clearer than ever that the Scottish Greens are the only party left in Scotland standing up for our climate and energy future.”
Maggie added:
“When the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon declared a climate emergency in 2019, we were promised urgent action. Instead, we’ve seen the Government retreat from those commitments, pouring fuel on the fire and burning through Scotland’s climate commitments. With the announcement coming less than a week after the approval of the Jackdaw gas field – a decision supported by members of the Scottish cabinet – the Scottish Government’s reputation as a climate leader is in tatters.
“People across Scotland are demanding stronger climate action, lower energy bills and a future built on clean power, not more pollution. More fossil fuels will not mean cheaper electricity or more jobs - just more climate destruction. We should be investing in a clean economy, not wasting the limited money we have on dirty, unproven technologies.”