‘The risks are higher for the Greens than they are for the SNP. Voters are likely to see any failure of government as Green failure too. And with only two ministers, their ability to effect meaningful change is limited. They may find themselves carrying the can for any mistakes without ever having been in a position to take a different path.’
Environment
Putting energy at the centre of Scotland’s history
“..whilst natural resources from coal to oil and gas to wind and tidal have been pivotal to recent Scottish history, we have to understand them in terms of their constitutive role in human social relations. These themes will become only more pivotal as the energy future dominates political discussion and the urgency for socially just climate action continues to grow.”
Why Huntington’s Disease is so prevalent in the North of Scotland
‘Our findings mean that northern Scotland has among the highest rates of Huntington’s disease in the world. Its prevalence is almost three times greater than reported elsewhere in Europe (4.7 per 100,000); North America (4.1-5.2 per 100,000); Japan (0.1 per 100,000); Australia (5.70 per 100,000 people) – and more than five times the estimated worldwide rate of 2.71 per 100,000 people.’
A sustainable web
‘Research estimates that by 2025, the IT industry could use 20% of all electricity produced and emit up to 5.5% of the world’s carbon emissions. That’s more than most countries’ total emissions bar China, India and the US’: the case for an internet powered by renewables.
The green ascendancy
‘The message for and from Scotland is that the trends in society and the economy favour outward-looking, social democratic, culturally progressive, green (in the widest sense) political movements and this was reaffirmed by last week’s results in Holyrood. Now, more than ever, is the time for these Scottish political forces to reach out to their fellows across the EU and Europe as a whole.’
A very Scottish foreign policy
“Scotland should also develop its own niche areas of expertise, starting with the gamut of environmental issues related to climate change. Indeed, the aim for the coming years should be: ‘Scotland – the Green Capital of Europe.’”
Oor land
“And herein lies the rub with Scotland’s supposedly “radical” land reform journey. The measures so far have not transformed the big picture: some have merely dragged Scotland’s anachronistic land laws into the 20th century as the rest of the world has entered the 21st. Most changes have worked within the old paradigm, treading carefully—maybe even neurotically—around established property rights.”
Energy transition: vital spark of national renewal or dying ember?
The story of BiFab, a fabrication yard that symbolised Scotland’s hopes for a “just transition” from North Sea oil to offshore renewables yet went into administration at the end of last year, has salient lessons for Scotland’s future. Profound institutional redesign is required in the near term if national renewal, predicated on disruptive decarbonisation technologies, […]
Is modernism obsolete?
In the final piece of his series the author makes a stand for classicism – and sustainable buildings in green cities
Modernist mythologies 2
In the second part of his series on architecture David Black finds that modernism is an expression of far right neo-liberal ideology