(Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
(SNP):...If this Chancellor was—[Interruption.] Chancellor, this
is really important. This is about our ability to get to net
zero, and it is about the fact that the Treasury has blocked
carbon capture and storage in Scotland. I say this directly to
the Chancellor: perhaps he will meet me in the coming days to
ensure that the Scottish Acorn
project is put back on track and that we increase
the number of carbon capture and storage projects from two to
three, for the simple reason that we need that to deliver on our
net zero targets and to deliver 15,000 jobs in Scotland for that
just transition...
(Gordon) (SNP):...The most
pressing crisis of all is the environmental crisis. The Scottish
Government are set to invest more than half a billion pounds in a
“just transition fund” to benefit the north-east of Scotland, and
have challenged the UK Government to match that, but I am sorry
to say that nothing I have seen in the Budget so far suggests
that the UK Government are doing so. In fact, what they have done
this week is scupper the Acorn
project in Peterhead for carbon capture and
underground storage, which was the only scheme in the mix that
was scalable and deliverable, using an existing infrastructure,
and which could have benefited clusters in south Wales and around
the Solent because of its ability to accept imports of carbon
dioxide. The contrast is striking, and my constituents will see
it very clearly: the UK Government roll out the pork barrel for
the north-east of England, while sticking two fingers up to the
north-east of Scotland.
(Na h-Eileanan an
Iar) (SNP): What has happened with the Acorn
project is doubly galling, given that Scotland’s
carbon assets have already been taken and now this carbon-capture
asset is not being placed in Scotland, after all that has been
taken from it over the decades.
: My hon. Friend makes
a powerful point. There has been £350 billion from the North sea
since oil began to be extracted, and when it comes to dealing
with the environmental consequences of fossil fuel use, we are
potentially not even going to be in the pole position that we
ought to be in, and will not be able to take full advantage of
our geological, geographical, sectoral and intellectual
advantages in that field...
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