Speaking to a group of Americans this week, I was asked about Scotland’s increasingly troubled relationship with North Sea oil. They were mostly elderly and retired, and remembered the excitement around its discovery in the early 1970s. As far as they could tell, today’s Scottish politicians want little to do with its lucrative but environmentally awkward black gold.
This often feels true. As fears over climate change have grown, politicians have become increasingly oil-sceptic (in public at least). Labour has ruled out granting any new North Sea licences when it takes power and wants to extend the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
The SNP, for as long as it was in partnership with the Greens, was similarly loath to voice support for the industry. The Nats, at least, appear to be changing their stance as new leader John Swinney drags his party back towards the centre. With the coalition with the anti-growth Greens now history, his task is considerably easier.
As so often, it was Kate Forbes who was brought out to signal the new position. Speaking to journalists during a campaign visit to Linlithgow, the Deputy First Minister said: “We’ve been clear that we’re not against new licences per se, but they have to meet a climate compatibility test. We’re very serious about meeting our climate change targets and obligations; we believe it is one of the most pressing issues of our day.
But we also believe that it needs to be a just transition, which means you can’t.