Applause but no ovation
WE have frequently criticised the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), and with good reason. The watchdog has looked seriously in danger of losing its bite. Sepa decided to withdraw a proposed ban on a toxic pesticide polluting 45 sea lochs after a complaint from the fish-farming industry. It has invited the whisky industry on to interview panels to help appoint senior staff. There was a worry that the regulatory agency was getting too close to the companies it was meant to regulate.
These are real concerns, not to be dismissed. Nevertheless it is comforting to hear what Sepa’s chief executive Terry A’Hearn has now said in an interview with the Sunday Herald – for the companies that break the rules, Sepa is going to be “the toughest, nastiest regulator you can get.”
Regulation means balance, and when it comes to the environment, the formula should be to encourage business to create wealth and increase jobs while protecting nature.
Sepa is also launching a bid to encourage businesses to use fewer natural resources, and create less waste and pollution. Those who fail to respect the environmental limits “imposed by the planet” will ultimately go out of business, A’Hearn has warned. These are strong words and big ambitions. The global threat posed by climate change is sufficiently serious to justify the kind of changes Sepa is asking for. It really doesn’t make sense for industries to carry on trashing nature. If they ruthlessly exploit finite resources there will be payback, and we will all be worse off.
We can’t go on disgorging endless carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, knowing it is causing climate chaos. The storms, floods, droughts and global disruption it will bring could trigger major economic instability.
Nor can we carry on polluting our sea lochs and assume there will be no price to pay. The pesticides meant to kill the sea lice that plague caged salmon also kill crustaceans and therefore destabilise the ecosystem.
Today, Sepa deserves applause, though perhaps not yet a standing ovation. We will have to wait and see whether A’Hearn’s vision pans out. In the end it’s not words that count, but actions. We will be watching.