We are writing to highlight the need for Scotland to have much more control over its energy policy, whether this is under independence or more devolution.
Scotland needs greater energy powers to escape from English advocacy of economically and politically bankrupt nuclear power and to counteract declining support from the UK Government for Scottish priorities for renewable energy.
Two types of power over energy are essential. First, a Scottish energy regulator must be established with powers that include allowing Scottish electricity networks to be more proactive in investing in upgrades in the local grids. This will allow renewable energy schemes to be set up more easily.
Second, the Scottish Government should have control of a large portion of incentives for low-carbon energy. Scotland comprises one third of the British land mass and thus a sizeable share of renewable energy resources.
We condemn the (so far) feeble proposals for post-referendum devolution "promised" by the unionist parties which do not include important powers, especially new powers over energy, that must form an essential part of any meaningful increase in self-determination for Scotland.
Dr David Toke
Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Aberdeen
Professor Peter Strachan and Dr Abhishek Agarwal'
Aberdeen Business School,
Robert Gordon University
Professor Ian Miles
University of Manchester Business School
Professor Bryan Wynne
Department of Sociology, Lancaster University
Dr Dan van der Horst
School of Geosciences,
University of Edinburgh
Dr Antje Brown,
Department of Geography and Sustainable Development,
University of St Andrews
Jonathon Porritt
Forum for the Future, London
Shaun Burnie, Gatehouse of Fleet
Dr Paul Dorfman
UCL Energy Institute
University College London
Dr Keith Baker,
Department of Social Sciences,
Northumbria University
Dr Alan Terry
Department of Geography and Environmental Management,
University of the West of England
Dr Richard Cowell,
School of Planning and Geography
Cardiff University
Herbert Eppel
HE Translations,
Oxford House
Dr David Lowry
Stoneleigh, Surrey
Dr Ian Fairlie
Highbury, London
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article