Brian Wilson: There's nothing green about dividing Britain or closing down the North Sea

That all depends on how the wind blows. Since we would prefer not to sit in darkness on a calm evening, we also need baseload. Over the past week, almost half our power was generated from gas and 15 per cent from nuclear. There’s always a contribution through interconnectors, which means whatever Europe sends us. The missing word in the 100 per cent claim is “equivalent”.

In any rational analysis, the evolution of these statistics over 20 years would be hailed as a great British success story, in which I was able to play a part as Energy Minister. We put in place probably the world’s most successful scheme to incentivise the growth of renewables with the costs distributed among consumers throughout the UK without too many complaints.

We established GB-wide trading arrangements which allowed Scottish renewable power to be transported to the rest of the country, Scotland being far too small to consume the energy produced. That also required physical interconnectors between Scotland and England which work in both directions. So when we need baseload from the south, the system responds. It is a good story of inter-dependence which would not have happened between separate states.

Though they had nothing to do with its formulation, the Scottish Greens should surely approve of that historical snapshot, however grudgingly. In contrast, their own contribution, through (in my view) a foolish prejudice against nuclear power, has been to turn Scotland into a net importer of electricity rather than a substantial exporter. That will soon deny us the right to generate a major source of low carbon power while extinguishing the highly skilled careers our nuclear industry created over decades.

That is history which has always suggested to me that the Greens are not, when it comes to the crunch, very green. As a political force, their movement took off first in Germany where they succeeded in securing a phase-out of nuclear power by next year. The German government has just agreed to pay the operators billions in compensation. Meanwhile, almost 30 per cent of “green” Germany’s electricity still comes from coal, some of it very dirty. The UK equivalent is virtually zero.

From from justifying the Scottish Greens' self-appointed role as the Mini-Me of Nationalism, energy is an area in which the benefits of inter-dependence are inescapable. Scotland can boast about renewable potential but if there is nowhere to send it, what’s the point? With the advent of floating offshore wind, this becomes even more relevant. There is plenty potential around the English coast and, if they are short, they can top up with nuclear from France. In other words, the growth of Scottish renewables is entirely dependent on retaining its much larger market.

Incidentally, while Scotland’s record on turning renewables into jobs is famously abysmal, there is a lot going on in other parts of Britain where people are better at working together. The north-east of England, around Blyth, is well ahead in that respect and the south-west is also getting its act together in anticipation of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea. If there is any policy area in which Scottish and UK governments should be working together, rather than in mortal combat, this is it – or else, we will again be left picking up crumbs.

It is extremely fashionable to talk glibly about “green jobs” and “just transitions” which, if you are at home wondering whether your job in the North Sea is secure, means the square root of hee-haw. The Scottish Greens’ sanctimonious demand that North Sea exploration must cease is as irrational in environmental terms as their enthusiasm for walking away from the British renewables market. But it must be taken seriously because of their potential influence, or even role, in the next Scottish Government.

There are more than 250,000 jobs dependent on the North Sea. Everyone knows that a transition from fossil fuels to a low carbon energy mix is essential and urgent. The big oil companies are greenwashing themselves furiously in response. But none of that means it makes any sense to run down the North Sea industry any faster than is likely to happen anyway – and certainly not before “green jobs” are more tangible than words in a television studio.

Oil and gas are international industries and any plan for reducing levels of exploration and exploitation will only have any meaning if addressed on that basis. There are still new frontiers opening up around the world with far fewer regulatory controls or environmental protections than exist in the North Sea and its supply chain. What possible sense does it make to adopt a unilateral policy of withdrawal from an industry which sustains so many livelihoods without a clue about happens next?

Those at the top of the Scottish Greens tree have long since cottoned onto the fact that positioning themselves as the SNP’s reserve team ensures a few jobs for life at Holyrood. Nobody should underestimate their threat to other people’s jobs if they are given enough electoral licenses. And the environment will not be the beneficiary.

Our columns are a platform for writers to express their opinions. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Herald.