GOOD NEWS AND NOT SO GOOD NEWS

The good news is that Greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland have dropped by 21% since 1990, according to Scottish government statistics. The newly released figures for 2008 reveal that Scotland's emissions fell by more than a fifth when taking emissions trading within the EU into account. Now, the not so good news, despite this recorded drop, emissions from transport - which excluded international aviation and shipping - rose by 7%. The Scottish Government said that Scotland was now half way towards its goal of reducing emissions by 42% by 2020.

Back in June 2009, the Scottish Parliament passed important Landmark legislation to help Scotland tackle the threat of climate change. Interestingly enough the legislation was passed unanimously by MSPs. Scottish Minsters set themselves tough targets, aiming for a 42% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, which will rise to 80% by 2050.

The Scottish plan is certainly more ambitious than anything that has emerged from any recent Westminster proposals. Aside from meeting carbon targets, the legislation also aimed to boost renewable energy and drive forward an improvement in energy efficiency. What's also worth noting is that there was a pretty unanimous consent for this legislation, which cleared the last parliamentary hurdle , after Scottish ministers raised their original 2020 target from 34% to 40%. Oh for intelligent debate and legislative powers...

TIME TO STOP DIGGING...

I am impressed with that Nick Clegg chap from the Con Dems, he seems to have managed to irritate the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Welsh Assembly all in one go... That's pretty impressive work for one brief statement in the House of Commons on the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum - what with the London centred parties deciding that Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish electoral concerns should take a back seat as David ('Call me Dave') Cameron desperately tries to pander to both Lib Dem's dreams of electoral reform and hard core Tory backbench (and not so backbench) opposition to any attempts to extend democracy and give a measure of equal worth to ordinary peoples votes. I wonder who else he will be able to annoy when he really gets to work with the public sector / public service cuts? 

DON'T LET WALES MISS OUT

It looks like Wales may miss out on any chance of rail electrification this time thanks to a combination of New / Old Labour and the same old Tories. With Whitehall tightening its belts and facing significant spending cuts there is a real and growing concern that the proposed upgrade of the Swansea to Severn Tunnel (and on to London) railway may yet end up as a casualty of Tory spending cuts. No doubt New / Old Labour will be quick to blame the Tories (they have after all done this for years, even when they have been in power), but that would hide the fact that both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's New Labour Government long ignored Wales and Welsh issues.  

The planned rail upgrade, was however, conspicuously absent from the George Osborne's list of capital projects that were to take place before his Budget speech. The rail project is being reconsidered as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which is due to be published in the autumn. With the Tories getting ready for what are expected to be pretty savage and deep spending cuts, what guarantees can be extracted for this key project to proceed - a good question that is in need a serious and urgent answer.

More locally within Gwent, the National Assembly's commitment (in March 2010) to finish the work on Gaer junction, so that direct trains can run between Newport and Ebbw Vale was warmly welcomed, along with the prospects of a new railway station in Ebbw Vale town centre and an hourly service. These are important small steps forward to improve our public transport infrastructure and to give people a real choice when it comes to using their cars or not. Now, while it it obvious that much more needs to be done, these improvements should be completed despite the threat of immanent budget cuts.

Elsewhere in south Gwent, there is much that can be done to improve our rail services. Both Caerleon and Magor would benefit from new railway station's and serious consideration should be given to reopening the line to Usk from Little Mill, In recent years we have seen hard won improvements to Severn Tunnel Junction, yet even here there is room for improvement. No to mention the fact that better facilities and better access is needed at Caldicot, Chepstow and Abergavenny Stations, as well as more frequent stopping services.

The National Assembly does not have the same powers over transport as does the Scottish Parliament (it should) and neither does it have the same financial settlement (Wales needs fair funding) - but despite these limits there is much that can be done. We also need to get serious about getting freight off the roads and onto the rails where it belongs - if this can be done along with rail electrification then we can reduce both pollution and road congestion. If Government wants to change the way we use public transport when we need a public transport system that's fit for purpose and fit for us to use.

THE WAVEOF THE FUTURE

In Scotland, the SNP Government is overseeing the development of a new generation of prototype wave power machines. This as Alex Salmond has pointed out is "another significant step" in Scotland's journey to become the green energy powerhouse of Europe.

The wave power machine, which was built in Leith, is some 180m long, weighs 1,500 tonnes and can produce 750kW of electricity. The Vagr Atferd generator is being transported to Orkney, where it will be tested in situ for three years to prepare it for commercial use. 

I mention this for a variety of reasons, one being that if you have proper powers in relation to energy development and the political will it is amazing what you can achieve. Also, energy (and energy cost) is a key issue in Scotland, there was a debate in the Scottish Parliament (on the 21st April 2010) which looked at the charges that Scotland pays to connect to the National Grid.

Basically it works like this; electricity produced not far from me here can cost me far more per kilowatt than it can someone who lives in the south-east of England. In Scotland, electricity industry leaders have been demanding an end to the 'unfair' practice, saying that these costs may have an impact on the development of some renewable electricity generation projects causing some to be delayed or abandoned.

Now transmission charges, which electricity generators pay for the cost of the national electricity grid, are a touchy subject not just for energy producers but also for energy users. The charges vary according to how far a power source is located from the main centre of demand, which is London.

So what this means is that in the north of Scotland for example, generators are charged £20.08p per kilowatt but in Central London a power source receives a subsidy of £6.41p per kilowatt. Subsidies are payable across most of southern England.

The National Grid naturally argues that the differentials encourage companies to locate power plants close to demand centres, cutting the costs of the national transmission network and reducing consumers' bills. National Grid are also on record arguing that stronger winds in northern Scotland meant that wind farms situated there generated more power than their southern counterparts and logically could afford to pay the higher transmission changes.

National Grid, a private company regulated by Ofgem, has been looking at how the costs of providing this infrastructure can be recovered from electricity producers and consumers. It has been using its existing pricing, which is already controversial in Scotland because it imposes higher charges on Scottish electricity producers to compensate for the cost of sending power to the main areas of demand in southern England.

The bottom line is that because Scotland generates more power than it consumes and decide to send it south to England they get penalised. While this may be a fact of life, it is decidedly unfair. This is all relevant because, according Jane Davidson AM, the Environment Minister to Wales (July 31, 2009) in Wales we use around 24 TWhr of electricity per year. WAG back in July 2009 then believed that with sufficient innovation and investment, the right Government framework and public support, Wales could produce over 33TWhr per year of electricity from renewable sources. 

For the record, in Scotland, which has a far stronger devolution settlement, has full powers for energy projects over 50mw. These powers for Wales now lie with New Labour’s lasting legacy - the unelected Infrastructure Planning Commission. The IPC is based outside of Wales and contains no representative or commissioner from Wales, yet is involved (as of 31st March 2010) in 9 projects either or the Welsh coast or in Wales. 

Interestingly enough successive Scottish administrations regardless of their political hue have pursued energy agendas which have ruled out nuclear power. One thing is certain we need a real debate about developing an energy strategy for Wales, one that encourages and empowers small energy producers.

To do this properly we need to make sure that the issue of the devolution of power consents for power stations over 50 Megawatts takes place sooner rather than later. In the meantime, National Grid must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospects of more revenue. Potential alternative and sustainable energy generators in Wales beware…

A DATE FOR THE DIARY!

So, providing that that the 5 years fixed term remains a fact of the life, then the date of the proposed next Westminster election will be Thursday 7th May 2015 - oops isn't that exactly the day of the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliamentary elections. Coincidence or what? While one would like to think that the Conservatives and their Liberal Democrat chums are not that dull as to have not realised it? One suspects that party political advantage may have been a major factor in the decision rather than it being down to coincidence rather than an attempt to boost turnout?

If you follow that sort of logic then any referendum on primary lawmaking powers should take place on Thursday 5th May 2011, the of the National Assembly elections, for that will increase turnout as well. An interesting thought, but, one that does not hold sway with the Liberal Democrat and Conservative leaders in the National Assembly who (especially the Conservatives) have been well set against any previous suggestion of that idea. Their reasoning being that it would confuse the voters; rather than simply rend their parties asunder, with some campaigning for and some campaigning against, whilst simultaneously trying to fight a united campaign.

It may be interesting trying to fight two simultaneous general style election campaigns with 100 candidates a piece, with two manifesto's, two different sets of media coverage. Not to mention twice as much campaign literature and at least 3 ballot papers, and possibly at least two different electoral systems and that before you begin to take into account any effects of electoral reform (or not). If this stands then it is going to be one hell of an interesting organisational and logistical exercise for any political party, the voters and not doubt somewhat hard pressed election officials.

ON THE BEAT

The Scottish SNP Government has hit its target of boosting police officer numbers in Scotland early. The number of Scottish police officers has increased from 16,234 in May 2007 to 17,278 officers in June 2009. The Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said there was now a record number of police on the streets. While there has been the usual muttering from the usual Unionist Opposition party suspect’s who have accused SNP ministers of political grandstanding, several Scottish Police forces have seen an increase in the last quarter, including Strathclyde Police which recruited 186 officers. The Strathclyde force currently employs 8,051 officers. The Scottish Government said the number of police officers would continue to rise as the Scottish Government invests £23bn between 2008 and 2010 to ensure that local authorities have the resources they need to deliver services.

Pity we don’t have the Ministry of Justice’s powers over policing here in Wales…

HOW TO AVOID BEING SAT IN THE DARK

The Scottish Government is to produce new legislation to tackle the threat of Climate change, a target for a 42% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 (if other European Governments agree to a cut of 30%), rising to 80% by 2050, is expected to be included in the new Bill. These proposals are far more ambitious than those proposed in Westminster, where the 2020 target for cutting carbon emissions has been set at 34%.

The Scottish Government has already set out a wide-ranging vision to address climate change, which includes a drive to boost renewable energy such as wind and wave power. Scottish Ministers also aim to see significant progress in boosting the energy efficiency of buildings, increase the number of electric vehicles on the roads and aim to cut in emissions across the farming and rural sector.

This is serious forward thinking on the part of the Scottish government as energy experts have for several years been consistently warning of a serious future shortfall in Britain’s energy supplies, as a result of the rapid depletion of Britain’s North Sea gas reserves, the increasingly tough regulations on carbon emissions from Britain’s ageing coal-fired power plants and the planned decommissioning of 14 of 15 existing nuclear generating stations by 2025.

Imagine what we could do if the National Assembly possessed similar powers to develop the alternative energy sector here in Wales. In Wales, we need real direction when it comes to the development of safe and secure energy resources, power generation can provide the potential for real sustainable long term job opportunities; the renewable energy sector can and should play an immensely important role in creating more green energy jobs.

Beyond this there is a need to unify the power generation and supply companies into a single entity, preferably run on a not for profit basis, in the interests of the inhabitants of the UK rather than big businesses. It is becoming increasingly clear that it was sheer irresponsibility or a matter of sheer self-interest (it's worth having a look to see who (Conservative Minster wise) got what directorships after privatisation) for successive Government to leave the energy sector largely and effectively unregulated as the private energy companies have proved themselves almost entirely incapable of making long term strategic decisions that are necessary to provide us with safe and secure energy.