Reasons for Independence. Part 1 - Energy, is part of a series of articles we will be posting to highlight different aspects of why we need to be out of the UK union and to provide information that can be used by supporters of Scottish independence to point out why we need to regain our independence. The articles won't go into massive detail but simply point out the basics.
Energy, we need it to heat and light our homes, run our cars, keep our mobile
phones and hand-held devices going. Whether it's in the form of Electricity,
Oil, Diesel, Coal, Nuclear etc. We need energy of one souce or the other, in
some cases more than one depending on when your home was built.
Unless you live in an all-electric house and or drive an electric vehicle you will
need at least two types. The first being electricity obviously, for lighting, power
points and possibly some form of heating. The second usually being Gas or
maybe Oil or one of it's derivatives (Diesel, Petrol, Paraffin etc). With fossil
fuels being slowly phased out over time the options will start to
thin out. Especially when it comes to vehicles.
Scotland is heading down the road to self sufficiency in the production of electricity from renewables. We already produce approximately 98% of our own electricity and during non peak times we also export Billions of £'s worth of electricity to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. With the rest of the UK generating less than 50% of its own renewable energy, they are way behind us and are already going against their promises to invest in renewable energy and are building new nuclear plants and re-opening coal mines while cutting back on investment in renewables instead of increasing them.
The problem for Scotland is that to provide that energy to the national grid, we
are charged the highest rates to do so of any other country that makes up the
UK. Whereas some area's in the south of England are paid to produce
electricity for the grid. Scotland sends Billions of £'s of electricity to the other
countries of the UK yet we see no benefit from it and as mentioned, pay for the
privelige of doing so.
Many union supporters tell us that we couldn't do without the UK for power, yet
an independent Scotland could easily be self sufficient in energy, electricity in
particular. We will still need oil though as it is needed for the production of
lubricants and plastics that are needed for everyday items. However, if we cut
out the use of oil and gas for heating this would massively reduce the
amounts of oil needing to be extracted. Remember also that most of the oil
and gas fields around the UK are in Scottish waters. While the government
don't own these drilling platforms, they have recently been giving the
companies that do own them millions of £'s in rebates instead of taxing them
for the oil and gas they extract.
This leads us on to the current fuel crisis. If Scotland were independent there
would be no fuel crisis because an independent Scotland could not only
produce the electricity we need via renewables but also tax and restrict the
prices companies could charge for oil and gas prices, just as France and other
countries have done. Also, we would get paid for the energy we sent to other
countries which could easily pay for further renewables expansion and to use it
to mitigate any rise in other fuel costs. Yet right now our people are expected
to pay up to ten times the previous amounts for gas and electricity while they
live in one of the most energy rich countries in the world.
Scotland needs independence for so many reasons but this is one of the
biggest issues we face right now and needs to be addressed and pointed out to those
who think we are better off where we are. The UK doesn't have broad
shoulders, it has steeply dropping ski slopes where its shoulders should be.
Independence is normal and independence is what Scotland needs to protect itself from the policies of political parties that are not based in or run from Scotland. The next time someone says we are better off in the UK, Ask them if they are happy paying their current fuel bills.