NORWAY’S new oil and energy minister is facing a problem that Scotland could soon have to deal with, namely how to maintain its flow of wealth gained from oil and gas while meeting ambitious climate change targets.
Tina Bru, 33, leapt to prominence at the weekend when she was named oil minister in a hugely revamped Cabinet chosen by Prime Minister Erna Solberg after the resignation of the Progress Party from the centre-right coalition.
All seven Progress Party ministers formally resigned last week and Solberg took the opportunity to cut two ministers from the Cabinet – it now has just 19 ministers including herself – and draft in 12 members from her Conservative Party and four each from the Liberal and Christian Democrat parties. Bru, who is originally from Norway’s oil capital of Stavanger, is considered one of the Conservatives’ biggest political talents, according to news bureau NTB.
READ MORE: Maltese MP resigns over links to journalist's alleged killer
Her predecessor Sylvi Listhaug had been in post for just a month before Progress quit the Government and had already alarmed environmental activists with her support for drilling for oil in the Arctic. Bru was previously a member of the parliament’s energy and climate committee and was known for supporting the industry – which employs 200,000 people – while also expressing climate and environmental concerns.
She also got the credit, however, for convincing the ruling Conservatives to allow Norway’s £1 trillion sovereign wealth fund to invest in unlisted renewables projects such as solar parks and wind farms – something Scotland cannot do as we were never given an oil wealth fund.
PM Solberg commented: “Tina will make sure we continue to develop the oil business at the same time as we build new green energy solutions.”
Bru said: “The petroleum business is Norway’s most important but I am also looking forward to working with renewable energy, which will play an important role in the transition to a low-emission society.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here