NEWS RELEASE - Climate Change
Posted on January 25, 2005GREEN MSP MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL 0001HRS, TUESDAY 25 JANUARY, 2005
NEW RESEARCH EXPOSES GLASGOW’S CONTRIBUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
A new report published today [25th January] reveals that Glasgow is responsible for emitting enough carbon to fill more than 68 million double-decker buses [1]. Green MSP Patrick Harvie said he was appalled by the figure – and urged Glaswegians to act now to help fight climate change.
Carbon emissions are the main contributor to the increase in levels of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. Glasgow is responsible for producing 1,202,481 tonnes of carbon a year and is the 2nd worst polluted area in the UK [2]
Mr Harvie said, “Neither Glasgow City Council nor the Scottish Executive are prepared to take strong enough measures to tackle the city’s pollution crisis. The strategies they have designed to help combat the alarming levels of dangerous emissions completely lack ambition. Public health and the environment will suffer enormously unless we see a radical rethink of Executive policy.”
The Glasgow MSP continued, “Only yesterday Ministers approved expansion plans for Glasgow airport and they are currently inviting expressions of interest for the construction of the M74 extension. Both of these projects will contribute substantially to the level of emissions emanating from our city. I am left puzzled and angered by the contradictory approach of Ministers who take two steps forwards and three steps back on the issue of climate change.”
The results of the carbon mapping exercise come the same day as the launch of a report by a leading global climate change task force that issues a stark warning. The report warns that the rate of climate change could reach ‘a point of no return’ within a decade unless more serious action is taken now [3].
Mr Harvie said, “Report after report warns of the drastic consequences of inaction. The evidence in these two reports emphasises the need for action at every level. We all have a role to play - individuals, businesses, public organisations and government. Unfortunately, there is a marked lack of government leadership so far - it appears that this Executive favours business as usual regardless of the ramifications for the future.”
Last week Scottish Greens published a report on climate change which showed Scotland failing to match pollution reductions compared to the rest of the UK, and set to fall short of targets by over 50% [4].
ENDS
For further information call 0771 761 8771.
[1] Please visit the website at www.carbontrust.co.uk or call the Carbon Trust press office on 020 7544 3100.
Dundee – emits 146,996 tonnes of carbon each year (enough to fill eight million double-decker buses)
Edinburgh – emits 372,893 tonnes of carbon each year (enough to fill 22 million double-decker buses)
Glasgow – emits 1,202,481 tonnes of carbon each year (enough to fill 68 million double-decker buses)
[2] See: www.sundayherald.com
[3] Meeting the Climate Challenge predicts widespread agricultural failure, water shortages and major droughts, increased disease, sea-level rise and the death of forests - with the added possibility of abrupt catastrophic events such as “runaway” global warming, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, or the switching-off of the Gulf Stream.
To find out more about see - www.ippr.org.uk
[4]. See Green report ‘The Burning Issue’ available at www.scottishgreens.org or from the press office by email.
NEWS RELEASE - Airport expansion
Posted on January 24, 2005GREEN MSP MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release, Monday 24 January, 2005
MSP SLAMS EXPANSION OF GLASGOW AIRPORT
Green MSP Patrick Harvie today reacted angrily to the announcement that Ministers have allocated 200 hectares of land for the long term expansion of Glasgow International Airport [1].
The Glasgow MSP said that the Executive’s action had exposed its contribution to the Parliamentary debate on climate change last week as a sham. Harvie argued that it was meaningless to support an increase in air travel at the same time as advocating action on climate change.
Mr Harvie said, “Air travel is the only form of transport to depend on tax-free fuel. It wrecks the climate; it is most
harmful to the poorest communities and to the health of people in them; and it gets a £7million per annum subsidy from the public purse. Anyone who supports more and more air travel is effectively saying that the environment, climate change, and the health of those on low incomes do not matter.”
He continued, “The fact that the Executive and other political parties such as the SNP are promoting air travel and are unprepared to face up to this issue proves that they are not taking environmental concerns seriously at all.”
Mr Harvie spoke out after this morning’s announcement that Ministers had approved an alteration to the Glasgow and Clyde Valley Structure Plan made by various local councils, including Glasgow, to secure long-term expansion at the airport [2]. This means land will be reserved to expand the terminal capacity and allows for the possibility of an additional runway.
Mr Harvie said, “The Executive have said that the airport is vital for Scotland’s economic growth - but airlines and airports fail to pay their own way and instead eat up taxpayers’ money [3].
“A fair tax system for aviation would produce benefits for the whole of society. The impact of air travel on climate change, noise and pollution would be greatly reduced. The Greens are not against all air travel - it is an essential service for some isolated communities in Scotland. But its continual expansion can never be justified if we care about the world we’ll hand on to future generations.”
Mr Harvie said he was relieved that the Executive decided not to approve the widening of the M8 motorway between junctions 26 and 29. He said the only sensible decision they had made was to analyse the impact of the proposed direct rail link before committing themselves to increasing the size of the motorway.
He concluded, “Given this Executive’s love of big road-building projects, perhaps we should be glad that they did not decide to accompany their plans to expand the airport with plans to expand the motorway. They are obviously content with one
environmental disaster at a time.”
ENDS
For more information contact Green MSPs Press Office on: 0771 761 8771
Notes to editor:
[1] See: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News
[2] The Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan covers the areas of Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire Councils. Alterations to Structure Plans require to be approved by Scottish Ministers.
[3] See the report: ‘The Hidden Cost of Flying’ at:
http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/
Sexual health strategy latest
Posted on January 21, 2005Following pressure from the Cross Party Group on Sexual Health, which Susan Deacon and I convene, the Scottish Executive has confirmed that the long-delayed strategy on sexual health will be published on Thursday the 27th of this month.
Below is an exchange from First Minister’s Question Time yesterday:
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): Does the First Minister agree that young people are at the heart of the question and are who the strategy should focus on? Will the First Minister reaffirm the Scottish Executive’s previously stated position that all young people in Scotland have the same rights to information and services in relation to sexual health, irrespective of which school they go to?
The First Minister: Absolutely. There was a newspaper report this Sunday that was unrecognisable from the facts, as the Deputy First Minister and I said at our press conference on Tuesday. The reality is that we have guidelines that are appropriate for all our schools. At the core of that is young people’s right to basic advice and services. However, that advice and those services should not be provided in a value-free environment. We need to give young people the confidence to say no if they want to and to delay sexual activity if that is their choice and is what is best for them.
NEWS RELEASE - Executive jumps gun on M74
Posted on January 14, 2005GREEN MSP MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release, Friday 14 January, 2005
GREENS REACT WITH ANGER AS EXECUTIVE JUMPS GUN ON M74
Greens today expressed anger that the Scottish Executive are inviting expressions of interest for contract for the Glasgow M74 Northern Extension - despite the results of the public inquiry into the motorway not being published yet.
Green Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie cited the planning process, a European Court ruling, and the Executive’s own policies, as reasons not to proceed with the proposal.
Mr Harvie said, “It is entirely premature for the Executive to be inviting expressions of interest for the design, build and maintenance contract for three phases of the motorway when the planning process has not even been completed. This week we have all seen how vulnerable communties across Scotland are in the face of chaotic weather - and this motorway will only help hasten climate change by encouraging car use.
“Ministers have been sitting on the report from the Public Local Inquiry for months and have refused to release the information contained within it. They claim to have made no decision about the proposed motorway extension – yet contracts worth up to £500 million are already being offered to big business. This destroys any credibility the Executive’s planning process has left.”
Expressions of interest for three phases of the motorway have appeared in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The advertisements state that work could start on the contracts as early as 2006, subject to the Executive granting approval for the scheme.
Harvie also called on the Executive to consider the implications of the recent European Court ruling on contaminated land, which could affect the legality of ‘encapsulation’, a practice expected to be used in the construction.
He said, “Ministers have told me in response to parliamentary questions that they still do not understand the full implications of the Van De Walle case regarding contaminated land. To ignore this and push ahead with the M74 in this way is plain recklessness.
“The project is completely incompatible with the Executive’s own policy objectives on climate change, traffic stabilisation, urban regeneration and social justice. First Minister Jack McConnell knows that building the M74 Extension amounts to reneging on his stated commitment to environmental justice - so it is no great surprise that they have tried to slip this announcement out so quietly.”
ENDS
For further information call the Green MSP press office on 0771 761 8771.
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