COMEDIAN Frankie Boyle and climate campaigner Vanessa Nakate have urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to throw out plans to develop a new oil and gas field in the North Sea.
On Tuesday, activists and organisations, which included the Women’s Institute and RSPB, wrote to Sunak to urge him to reject plans for the Rosebank field, which is planned to be built 80 miles off the coast of Shetland.
Energy minister Grant Shapps is expected to make a decision on whether or not to approve the project imminently, with the field scheduled to start production in 2026.
But Boyle said “approving Rosebank makes no sense” and “we’re in a climate emergency, renewable energy is so much cheaper, and anyway this is oil for export”.
“The only winners would be the oil and gas companies that own these reserves off the Shetland coast,” he said.
READ MORE: Kate Forbes: I would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland
“Why we’re subsidising its development to the tune of half a billion pounds, when they clearly don’t need the cash and there are plenty more worthy causes, is a mystery.”
Rosebank contains up to 350 million barrels of oil, and is one of the largest untapped discoveries in UK waters.
It could produce 69,000 barrels of oil per day – about 8% of the UK’s projected daily output between 2026 and 2030 – and could also produce 44 million cubic feet of gas every day, Equinor, the Norwegian firm behind the project, said.
Campaigners against Rosebank have said it would have a devastating impact on the climate, if approved, and taxpayers would effectively subsidise 90% of the development cost.
In a YouGovDirect poll, more than two thirds of the 2193 people asked said they were against taxpayers subsidising oil and gas firms to develop new fields in the North Sea.
READ MORE: Hamilton to hit Edinburgh stage with nine-week run in 2024
They were asked between February 1-2 as part of a poll commissioned by the group Uplift, which advocates fossil-free fuels and helps co-ordinate the Stop Rosebank and Stop Cambo campaigns.
The open letter to the Prime Minister on Tuesday also said the development would “not help energy security” with supplies “most likely to be exported and will not lower energy costs in the UK”.
Nakate said the UK needed to “care about people around the world who are already living with the climate crisis, and protect young people and generations to come who will have to face the consequences of these decisions”.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been approached for comment.
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel