{"id":2800,"date":"2009-09-11T11:56:39","date_gmt":"2009-09-11T19:56:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=2800"},"modified":"2009-09-11T11:56:39","modified_gmt":"2009-09-11T19:56:39","slug":"scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland Rising to Carbon Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

This dispatch came in from Alison van Diggelen after a recent visit to her home country. Van Diggelen is a freelance writer and interviewer and founder of the Fresh Dialogues<\/a> website and podcast. <\/em>Originally from Glasgow, she <\/em>now makes her home in Silicon Valley.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Scotland Aims to Beat California on Climate Change Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Alison van Diggelen<\/p>\n

\"Wind
Wind turbines off Scottish coast. Photo: World Wildlife Fund<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not often that Scotland is ahead of the game compared to California, but on the issue of climate change, this small northern country has taken a legislative lead that has put it on the green map of the world.<\/p>\n

As the California Legislature this week grapples with new laws<\/a>* requiring utilities to get 33% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, Scotland is sitting pretty. It is already close to its 31%<\/a> target of energy from renewables by 2011<\/em> and has an even bolder target of 50% by 2020.<\/p>\n

On a trip to Scotland this summer, I met with Lena Wilson<\/a>, CEO of Scottish Enterprise<\/a>, a government-funded organization that promotes Scottish interests both at home and abroad. She told me<\/a> that the fight against global warming is a crucial part of the government\u2019s strategy<\/a> because ultimately a low carbon future is an economic stimulus and job creator for the country.<\/p>\n

But how did Scotland muster the political will to set such ambitious targets? Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond<\/a> is passionate about renewable energy, Wilson told me; and establishing Scotland as a hub of green energy and green-tech is key to his strategy. Part of the plan is to harness its natural resources \u2013 powerful wind and wave power, estimated to account for a quarter of Europe\u2019s potential. Salmond recently opened the largest wind farm<\/a> in Europe to drive home that point. It’s on the outskirts of my home town of Glasgow and makes me rather proud.<\/p>\n

Yet, making bold targets isn\u2019t the end of the story. Scotland must create a whole ecosystem to make green growth attractive in Scotland. It launched the Saltire Prize<\/a> last year to stimulate innovation in wave and tidal power; but still has ground to cover. As well as the financial, administrative and logistical challenges, there\u2019s the issue of NIMBY-ism. Although Wilson insisted they\u2019re pursing a popular green agenda, some of the locals I talked to in Scotland were less enthusiastic about the aesthetics of wind turbines.
\nAnd then there’s the “nuclear option.” Just as in California, the issue is red hot. Salmond is publically against it<\/a>, but if he wants to keep shining his low carbon credentials, he may be forced to rethink his position.<\/p>\n

One final note: When I asked Wilson, is your boss, Alex Salmond the Al Gore of Scotland? Her response was enlightening. She almost choked. Being a staunch nationalist, union man and former socialist, she doubted he\u2019d enjoy the comparison. On my next trip, I hope to discuss this with the man himself and find out exactly how his passion for green took root. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

*State legislators passed two bills during their overnight session on Friday. Here’s a summary provided by the advocacy group Environment California<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“AB 64 (Krekorian) & SB 14 (Simitian)<\/strong>: AB 64 and SB 14 are companion bills that together set California on the path toward producing 33% of its electricity from renewable resources like solar and wind power. While there was much controversy over amendments to the bill that add in language for PG&E to potentially build large hydroelectric dams in British Columbia and call it renewable energy as well as amendments pushed by British Petroleum and Chevron that put 7,000 MW of fossil fuel burning combined heat and power plants ahead of renewable energy, the two bills still stand to become the biggest renewable energy mandate in the country”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California’s much vaunted leadership in climate policy faces a stiff challenge from an unlikely contender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[179,193,298,435],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-2800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-business","category-power","tag-economics","tag-emissions","tag-international","tag-policy"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nScotland Rising to Carbon Challenge | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scotland Rising to Carbon Challenge | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"California's much vaunted leadership in climate policy faces a stiff challenge from an unlikely contender.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-11T19:56:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2009\/09\/scots_offshorewind_wwf.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Craig Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@voxterra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Craig Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/\",\"name\":\"Scotland Rising to Carbon Challenge | Climate Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-11T19:56:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-09-11T19:56:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/f7222c517400a6c4b0336fca3652c323\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/09\/11\/scotland-rising-to-carbon-challenge\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Scotland Rising to Carbon Challenge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Watch\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/f7222c517400a6c4b0336fca3652c323\",\"name\":\"Craig Miller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/dd8f4f4f978df3faac9db4c510939ea0\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b91661df645e001a9cafe0861fa685f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b91661df645e001a9cafe0861fa685f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Craig Miller\"},\"description\":\"Craig is a former KQED Science editor, specializing in weather, climate, water & energy issues, with a little seismology thrown in just to shake things up. 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