SNP must come clean on Rosebank
Scottish Greens candidate for Aberdeen South, Jorg Shelton-Eckstein, has challenged the SNP to come clean with voters in Aberdeen South about its position on the controversial Rosebank oil field.
It follows reports that the SNP’s candidate, Richard Thomson, has said new oil and gas licences should go ahead if they pass a climate test and are deemed necessary for energy security.
According to Jorg, the comments show the SNP is “walking away from climate leadership” and siding with fossil fuel giants over the long-term future of workers and communities in the North East.
Scottish Greens candidate for Aberdeen South, Jorg Shelton-Eckstein, said:
“The SNP needs to be honest with people in Aberdeen South.
“Do they stand with workers and communities who need secure jobs for the future, or with the fossil fuel giants who have profited from our city for decades while leaving workers to face the consequences of decline?
“Rosebank is not a plan for Aberdeen’s future. It is a climate-wrecking project that would hand more power and profit to multinational oil companies while doing nothing to lower bills or deliver lasting security for workers.
“The SNP used to say that projects like Rosebank were wrong. Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf both took a stand against new climate-wrecking drilling, but now SNP candidates are retreating from that position and reheating the same arguments as the Tories and Reform.
“Aberdeen deserves a plan, with serious investment in clean, green industries that can create secure, well-paid jobs for decades to come.
“The North East has the skills, workers and expertise to lead Scotland’s renewable future. What we need is political courage, not more excuses for oil giants.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay added:
“New drilling in Rosebank would be catastrophic for our climate and our future.
“When Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf took a stand against these climate-wrecking proposals it sent a clear message to the world, yet, as the crisis worsens, this Scottish Government has resorted to retreat.
“Scotland has vast renewables potential, with the chance to create tens of thousands of high-quality, secure and long-lasting jobs while ending our dependence on volatile fossil fuel prices.
“Aberdeenshire in particular, already has the skilled workers and resources to be a climate leader. All that is missing is the political will to actually do it.”