Greens in SNP energy challenge

THE Scottish Government is contradicting itself over its policies on energy, the co-leader of the Scottish Green Party claimed yesterday.

Patrick Harvie also attacked the SNP administration on tax, saying it must take action to close tax avoidance loopholes.

Speaking at the party’s conference in Aberdeen, Harvie said: “Alex Salmond now has a very clear and simple choice: he must either fail on Scotland’s much-vaunted climate change targets, or he must drop his unconditional support for the fossil fuel industries.

“First, the new coal-fired power station at Hunterston must be blocked. Then he must rule out shale gas extraction, which his energy minister has refused to do.

“Then, because carbon capture and storage can never be applied to most uses of oil anyway, he must drop his support for dangerous deepwater oil drilling in Scottish waters.

“The SNP can’t run a high-carbon and low-carbon economy simultaneously. It’s time to choose.”

On tax, Harvie said legal tax avoidance is one of the key mechanisms which has allowed the gap between the rich and poor to grow so scandalously wide.

“If we care about social justice and a more equal Scotland, we should start cracking down on this parasitic behaviour right now.”