The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) today (31st January) published its first progress report of 2012, showing that total emissions in Scotland fell by 7% in 2009 due to the recession.
However, it indicated that pollution levels appear to have increased in 2010, while emissions were also likely to have risen that year.
In 2009 the Scottish Government passed legislation which commits to cut emissions by 42% from 1990 levels by 2020.
Highlands and Islands MSP, Jamie McGrigor, sees that target as unrealistic against the fact that overall emissions have only fallen by a third in twenty years, while emissions from road transport have risen by 4% since 1990.
Since 2007, when the SNP came to power, McGrigor notes that there has only been a 5% drop in emissions – in the period 2007-2009.
Environment Spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, Jamie McGrigor says: ‘These numbers are definitely a step in the right direction but this SNP Government must do more if Scotland is to achieve the ambitious targets set.
‘The SNP are claiming credit for reducing emissions in 2009, which the CCC report attributes to the recession; and they have already begun with their excuses as to why 2010 emissions might be higher.
‘It is imperative that the Environment Minister continues to liaise with the UK government to ensure the efficient implementation of UK and EU policies to cut emissions further. (Ed: do we detect a quick plug for unionism here?)
‘Relying solely on renewable energy sources, while blindly disregarding the benefits of nuclear energy, will not help the SNP reach their targets. Nuclear energy is a sustainable and low carbon source and they must start to realise its importance.’
Now this last sentence takes off on a different tack – although of course not an unrelated one.
The trouble with putting the nuclear argument on the basis of its low carbon rating rather ignores the fact that its environmental impact is potentially environmentally terminal. Pause for thought.
There is also a strong and persistent private sector lobby for nuclear which is based on the profit motive, careless of the climatic and environmental health of the planet which it uses as a handy pitch.
Having said that, the varieties of turbine-driven renewable enegies of wind and water, touted as ‘clean’ are anything but that.
The sources may be clean but the means of harvesting their power – the turbines – require the use of rare earths in the production of the turbine magnets – and these rare earths create a highly toxic waste.
(We have recently reported on the above -and very serious – issue when it became known that Scotland is considering extracting rare earth deposits at Ben Loyal on the north coast. This requires a fracking process which itself produces fluid toxic wastes in great volume, leaving safe storage and disposal a substantial problem and an enduring risk.)