MIKE WEIR MOVES MOTION FOR CLEAN ENERGY ACT

Angus MP Mike Weir, SNP Westminster Spokesperson on Energy, moved the first motion at the SNP’s Spring Conference in Dundee at the weekend. Mr Weir’s motion called upon the Scottish Parliament to adopt a Clean Energy Bill that would include measures to develop and promote the use of renewables and energy efficiency. It also seeks the transfer to the Scottish Parliament of powers over energy. 

In moving the motion Mr Weir said that we had a window of opportunity to develop renewables before the switch off of existing nuclear stations which  we must grasp. 

“Scotland has a huge potential for green energy through wind, wave, tidal, hydro, biomass and other new forms. The Pentland Firth has been described as the Saudi Arabia of Renewable Energy. All of this is at peril, however, due to the present government’s lack of investment and nuclear obsession. We have already seen much of the wave technology going to Portugal and a regime of electricity transmission charges that works against Scotland.” 

“The present energy review is a sham. The last review took two years and concluded that there was no economic case for nuclear. The present one is taking a matter of months and the conclusions have already been written – extension of the life of existing nuclear stations and the construction of new ones. Gordon Brown let the cat out of the bag in his Budget speech when he disclosed he was to sell off the government stake in British Energy “after the Energy Review has reported.” The reason the government has a stake in British Energy is because it was going bust, and the only way it will have any value is if there is a new generation of nuclear stations.”

“Nuclear power is not green. By going nuclear we would be replacing one polluting source of energy with an even worse one that will produce waste that remains dangerous for thousands of years. It is not sustainable, uranium is a finite resource and we will encounter the same problems with it as we do with gas supplies from unstable regimes.” 

“Scotland does not need new nuclear stations and we will not accept them.” 

The motion was passed overwhelmingly.