This if
nothing else this shows the intellectual dependency on Westminster and London
that runs through the heart of Labour in Wales at every level in every part of
our country where Labour is in office.
At a very basic level, certainly locally in Newport (and no doubt
elsewhere across our country) it appears to be literally about being there
rather than doing anything in particular, that and enjoying as many of the
trimmings as possible.
This is the real
dependency culture that lies at the heart of the current Labour in Wales’s government
in Cardiff; it revolves around the fantasy of waiting for Westminster to come
to our rescue. When the next Labour in Westminster government will make it all
better, banishing the nasty Tories and their cuts, etc, etc. This a fantasy,
when the last Labour Government was in office well before the financial crash when
the coffers were full and there was (in theory) no lack of political will;
little was done to balance out the economic imbalance that lies at the heart of
modern Union.
Take energy, things are
different in Scotland, as I have said before Wales is not Scotland; and what works
in Scotland won’t necessarily work here. When it comes to energy generation,
energy planning and growing jobs then Wales just like Scotland should be in a
position to benefit from its rich natural resources. There are certainly more
than enough Scottish examples to show that a whole range of entirely practical
steps have been taken to generate sustainable alternative energy and jobs.
One
particularly good example of the practical and the possible is the new hydro
power scheme in Ross-shire which has just been given planning approval,
ironically on the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the hydro power industry
in Scotland. The £3 0 million pound scheme near Ardross will supply power to
4,000 homes and SSE will begin construction on the 7.5 megawatt (MW) Glasa
scheme later on this year.
First
Minister, Alex Salmond said: "Hydro-electric
and its role in producing energy is one of the greatest industrial success
stories of post-war Scotland. Hydro drove not only industrial development but
also immense social achievement - something which still rings true today as the
Scottish government continues to grow delivery of clean energy through
renewables schemes for the 21st Century and also by retaining support for new
conventional hydro schemes."
This year
Scotland is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the legislation which
began the Highland hydro development boom. A 1943 parliamentary act
kick-started the ‘Power from the Glens’ campaign; it brought large-scale hydro
power to Scotland's lochs and rivers. After the Hydro Electric Development
(Scotland) Act was passed in 1943, work started on the construction of dozens
of dams and power stations.
At its peak, the workforce numbered about
12,000 men. After the Second World War, men from all over Scotland came to work
on the schemes, attracted by high wages. The Glasa development will be the
biggest since the Queen opened the Glendoe pump storage tunnel near Loch Ness
some four years ago. Hydro electric power is an important source of
energy in Scotland, where there is now some 1.5 gigawatts of capacity, or
enough to supply energy to more than 900,000 homes.
A recent
report has suggested that the renewable energy industry could create more than
10,000 jobs on Scotland's islands by 2030, according to a
government-commissioned study. Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles would
benefit from wind, wave and tidal schemes, the Scottish Islands Renewable
Project final report stated. The research commissioned by the UK and Scottish
governments, also highlighted the necessity of ensuring that those areas were
power could be generated were connected to those areas where there was a demand
for the power.
The generation of renewable energy could
bring "significant benefits" to local economies through direct and
indirect jobs. The report estimated that by 2020, 392 full-time jobs could be
created on the Western Isles, 463 in Shetland, 416 in Orkney and 3,000 across
the rest of the UK. The report suggested that by 2030 the job numbers on the
islands could increase to more than 3,500 on the Western Isles, almost 2,900 in
Shetland, and more than 4,500 on Orkney.
Other potential benefits of developing
the renewable energy industry on Scotland's islands were also highlighted,
including that the project could reduce fuel poverty and halting a declining
population. Over the last 100 years the isles' population had fallen by 43% to
26,100 in 2011. The isles, researchers noted had a lower gross weekly pay
compared with the rest of the UK.
Our country
is rich in natural resources, some of which could be used to generate
sustainable green energy and energy schemes that will deliver real benefits to
our communities. While we do have some serious hydro electric projects in
Wales, and not just large scale ones just like they do in Scotland, the real
difference is one of scale, history and the political will.
In Wales we
are in a difficult situation as while we have some of the powers necessary to
create and develop sustainable green energy, what we appear to lack, at least
within the current Labour in Wales government is the political will to actually
do anything. We need to avoid the grim combination of Con Dem Westminster
Government’s indifference (if not hostility) towards green energy and the
Labour in Wales Government’s readily apparent lethargy towards smaller scale
community beneficial green energy schemes.
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