KEEP IT GREEN Local action is key to saving planet
BY WEST SCOTLAND MSP ROSS GREER
As local elections approach, it’s a good time to look at the issues affecting our community.
Scottish Greens have been asking people to ‘think global, act local,’ and the need to take this approach has never been clearer.
Very few of the big issues faced by councils like Renfrewshire are purely local - there’s a global context.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for example, demonstrates that ending our use of fossil fuels isn’t just about preventing catastrophic climate change, it’s also a matter of national and European security.
Relying on other countries or on unstable commodities, like gas, is high-risk.
But what’s that got to do with the council?
Ending our reliance on fossil fuels is partly about switching to renewable alternatives, but what’s also crucial is energy efficiency work, for example, so that homes and buildings require far less energy to stay warm in the first place.
Through the Scottish
Government, the Greens are investing £1.8billion in this work, but much of it will be delivered by local councils.
Tackling the climate crisis, securing our energy supplies and reducing household bills will all be dependent on the election of councillors determined to drive forward the energy efficiency agenda.
Since Greens entered government in Scotland last summer, we’ve made far more support available nationally.
For example, Green minister Patrick Harvie recently announced a £300million fund for Heat Networks.
These allow homes and other buildings to save energy and tackle fuel poverty by sharing the heat generated from a renewable source nearby.
Probably the best example of this in all of Scotland is over the Clyde in Clydebank, where a large-scale water source heat pump project takes water from the Clyde to generate heat for a care home, leisure centre, business park, council offices and dozens of homes.
Renfrewshire deserves councillors who will work with the Scottish Government to bring projects like this – and the jobs they create - to our own area.
District heating is just one example of how we can build better integrated communities.
Properly joined-up public transport and active travel options are also essential to tackling those same challenges of the climate emergency, energy security and the cost of living.
Public transport and active travel are both now receiving record investment from the Scottish Government, but, again, both depend on local councillors to deliver local schemes. Renfrewshire can do so much more in this regard.
On May 5, think globally, act locally and give your first preference vote to your Scottish Green candidate.