I AM pleased that by publishing “the long letter” of September 14, you have been able to highlight the clear ignorance – or perhaps, to rephrase it ignorant apathy – that is demonstrated by the writer. His views, I fear, may be widely sustained amongst us all, as a perception of our current status of “living” in Scotland, and ignore a glaring reality. We cannot, even if Scotland were to gain independence, continue with the status quo. We cannot and must not ignore climate change. We should all wake up each morning and fear for our future. This has to be our primary concern.
Your writer, Mr McLaughlin, describes firstly dealing with logic: the Scottish oil he so champions is provided with, on reliable estimates, a share of £65 billion in subsidies – given annually from the UK Treasury to support fossil fuels. He describes that the timescale indicated by the SNP policy document on climate change would require restructuring of the economy. Good! He’s got that right! That restructuring must start now; in tandem with even more ambitious proposals to curb Scotland’s continued contribution to climate change. There is no “golden goose laying golden eggs” for my grandson (and everyone else’s grandchildren) to enjoy from further exploitative extractive, polluting, climate-changing and environment-destroying fossil fuel extraction and use. Wake up all of us in Scotland, if we love our country and our planet.
He goes on to describe that the electorate depend on our cars and buses (what about electric trams and electric trains mass-transit expansion?). Shell, I have been told (though I might be corrected), paid the UK Government about £25 million in tax in 2016, but paid the Norwegian Government £6 billion equivalent. This is only one of several major oil producers who all always plead poverty, who constantly underpay a fair contribution to society’s support, while at the same time rewarding the really rich and powerful of the globe with ever more benefits. Rex Tillerson – heard of him? He was a chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil from 2006 -2016, a period during which the rich got richer while most of the rest of us saw what wealth we might have aspired to disappear. The global financial crash was obviously our fault, which is why we all have to pay (except for the rich and powerful). And yet Mr McLaughlin appears in his letter to be concerned about a radical plan? Taxing the extractors and manufacturing polluters adequately could be a good start. That might help to pay for greener transit systems.
He also seems ignorant of the capabilities of electric cars. citing their low mileage. I own an all-electric Zoe, and in August drove from Haarlem, south of Amsterdam, via the ferry to North Shields, home to West Lothian on one charge and still had 12 per cent left; the car carrying the full holiday luggage as well as us three adults. We had enjoyed a zero-emissions trip to Hamburg.
Further on, Mr McLaughlin questions if we are mad. I suggest that he should try to expand his research by reading a little more. Easy-reading titles I suggest may include This Changes Everything and No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein, How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee, End Game – Tipping Point For Planet Earth by Barnosky and Hadly, or The Story Of Stuff by Annie Leonard. Perhaps then he might be less ignorant to ask us if we are mad.
I want Scotland to succeed. I am not alone, thank goodness. Scotland has the renewable resources to be completely powered by renewably sourced electric energy – not just wind, as Mr McLaughlin suggests, but wind, wave, hydro, solar as well; to become a net exporter of energy too. Getting our politicians to at last make some belated and tentative steps in the right direction is better – but not enough. We should implore them to do even more. We all must wake up. This confronts us NOW.
Keith MacLeod
Broxburn
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