Rob Edwards

The scandal of the £122m not spent on greening the UK

from Sunday Herald, 21 February 2010

A massive £122 million of public grants meant to help cut pollution and save energy across the UK have been unclaimed, resulting in tens of thousands of households, businesses and other organisations missing out on chances to reduce their fuel costs.

The UK government has been accused of “shameful incompetence” and a “catalogue of failure” for allowing such a huge underspend on such crucial funding schemes. Poor promotion and the wrong criteria for giving grants are blamed.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in London have released figures showing underspend figures for three key “environmental transformation” funds in response to a freedom of information request by the Liberal Democrat Party. Over the last three years, 80% of the £152 million budgeted has not been spent.

The LIbDem Scottish spokesman, Alistair Carmichael MP, attacked the Labour leadership for failing Scotland on jobs and the environment. “Gordon Brown claimed these funds would create jobs and develop green technologies, but now we find the vast majority of the money never reached the people who needed it,” he told the Sunday Herald.

 

“This kind of incompetence is shameful when we have rising unemployment and a pressing need to cut emissions. Real investment in renewables would help to create employment and reduce Scotland's carbon footprint.”

Revealed: the crisis of confidence within Scotland’s wildlife watchdog

from Sunday Herald, 21 February 2010

The government agency tasked with protecting Scotland’s precious wildlife and landscapes is in deep trouble, according to internal documents obtained by the Sunday Herald.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has suffered a severe and escalating crisis of confidence and has lost the support of its staff. There is growing concern that nature conservation is slipping down the agenda of senior managers and Scottish ministers.

The latest survey of SNH’s 900 staff reveals that only a third of them had confidence in the organisation’s future, or its top management. And only a little over a half thought that their employer deserved their loyalty.

Although SNH managers insist that things have got better since the survey, insiders and critics say that the malaise infecting the agency has actually got worse. The leadership shown by the SNH board was described by one former board member as “insipid”.

Plague of 'super lice' threatens wild salmon

from Caledonian Mercury, 16 February 2010

Wild salmon and trout populations in Scotland are under threat from a plague of ‘super lice’ at Norwegian fish farms, angling groups have warned.

Salmon farms in Norway have suffered from a huge rise of infestations by sea lice, which are becoming increasingly resistant to pesticides. The lice spread to wild fish, weakening and killing them.

Scottish anglers fear that the super lice will spread to Scotland’s fish farms, then deplete the nation’s vulnerable wild stocks. The prospects for wild salmon and trout are “deeply worrying”, they say.

Norway is the world’s biggest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon, producing around 865,000 tonnes a year. Scotland is second, with about 133,000 tonnes a year.

But the Scottish government wants to expand production by about a third - a prospect that is greeted with alarm by the Sea Trout Group. The group was set up by the Scottish Anglers National Association and the Salmon and Trout Association in 1997 to campaign for more controls on fish farming.

MoD in breach of information law on nuclear weapons

Exclusive, 15 February 2010

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has broken freedom of information law by delaying a response on the safety of nuclear weapons, according to a new ruling from the UK information tsar.

The MoD has been rapped by the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, for taking more than five months to reply to a request for six reports on nuclear weapons safety.

Graham has ruled that even in complex cases responses should always be made with 40 working days. The MoD, he said, had breached section 17(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 “by failing to provide the complainant with its public interest determination within such time as is reasonable”.

But in other cases the MoD is taking over 14 or 15 months to respond to requests for information on the safety of operations at the Clyde nuclear submarine bases. This has led to accusations that it is trying to hide inconvenient truths.

Failure to ban snares splits SNP

from Sunday Herald, 14 February 2010

The refusal of Scottish Nationalist ministers to abide by party policy and ban the snaring of wild animals has sparked growing discontent within the ranks of the SNP.

One party official has resigned in disgust, others are known to be unhappy and several SNP MSPs have signalled their opposition. Snaring, they say, is cruel and inhumane, sometimes forcing innocent animals to slowly strangle themselves.

Snares are thin wire slip nooses used by gamekeepers to trap foxes and other animals to try and prevent them killing pheasants or grouse. The aim is to ensure that there are plenty of birds to be shot by paying visitors.

But animal welfare campaigners say the traps inflict pain and death on other animals that get caught, like badgers, mountain hares and household pets. It is impossible to police their use, they argue.

Following pressure from members, the SNP’s national council agreed a motion in December 2008 calling on ministers to review their decision not to ban snares. But this has been ignored by the government, which instead has just published new rules tightening up on the use of snares, but not outlawing them.

Thousands of school children at risk from pesticides

from Sunday Herald, 31 January 2010

The health of thousands children is being put at risk by the widespread use of toxic pesticides in Scottish schools, according to a new survey by environmental groups.

Local authorities across the country have admitted spraying chemicals suspected of causing cancers and other health problems on playing fields, paths and playgrounds to control weeds. They have also laid poisonous bait to try and get rid of rats.

Exposing children to such risks is “staggering” and “unacceptable”, say campaigners, who are demanding a ban. Some councils say they would prefer not to use pesticides, but manufacturers insist they are safe if properly used.

Councils across the UK were asked for the first time to identify which pesticides they used in schools. The survey was carried out at the end of last year by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), which brings together 65 organisations in 26 countries across Europe, along with the UK campaign group, Pesticides Action Network.

Aberdeenshire council accused of tyranny and bullying

from Sunday Herald, 31 January 2010

A major Scottish local authority has been accused of “tyranny”, “bullying” and “Orwellian corporatism” for attempting to close down dissent and silence critics.

In the wake of bitter controversy over plans for a new golf resort by the US tycoon, Donald Trump, Aberdeenshire council has moved to suppress the rights of rebel councillors.

Powers to raise motions for debate at the council have been severely restricted, prompting councillors to question whether Aberdeenshire is still a democracy.

Aberdeenshire council has been badly divided over the Trump plan, with a small minority of councillors strongly opposed to the billionaire’s scheme to build two championship golf courses, 950 holiday homes, 500 luxury homes and a 450-bed hotel on a unique natural system of sand dunes at the Menie estate near Balmedie.

But the council’s ruling Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition, along with Scottish Nationalist councillors, has supported the plan. As a result some councillors have split from the LibDems, and helped form the five-strong Democratic Independent group.

Ministers ‘botch’ red tape rules for home renewables

from Sunday Herald, 31 January 2010

Botched attempts by Scottish ministers to cut the red tape that is preventing people from fitting clean, green technologies in their homes have descended into chaos.

The Scottish government will this week complete consultations on plans that put barriers in the way of energy-saving heat pumps and small wind turbines. But - amidst a welter of bureaucratic confusion - it will then launch contradictory proposals to remove the barriers.

Ministers have been accused of making a “shambles” out of a crucial initiative to cut climate pollution and heating bills. According to opposition politicians, they have managed to make a U-turn within a matter of days.

Heat pumps which work like fridges in reverse, extract heat from the outside air and use it to warm buildings. Though they cost more to install than gas boilers, they are cheaper to run and cause less pollution.

Bid to protect pigeons from hawks ends in fiasco

from Sunday Herald, 24 January 2010

A ministerial attempt to prevent sparrowhawks from killing homing pigeons has ended as an embarrassing fiasco, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

An intensely controversial trial in which hawks were trapped and taken away from pigeon lofts has proved nothing because the number of birds involved was so small and the data was so unreliable.

The final report of the trial, seen by the Sunday Herald and due to be published tomorrow, is bound provoke a storm of claims and counterclaims. But it has failed to resolve any of the major disagreements, and it is not going to be repeated.

Disputes about the conflict between sparrowhawks and homing pigeons have raged for many years. Wildlife groups say that predation is natural, and only leads to the loss of a tiny proportion of pigeons.

The owners of urban doocots, however, insist it’s cruel and damaging. They become deeply angered when they see their birds being torn apart by the avian predators.

Ministers drop ban on dumping nuclear waste in Scotland

from Sunday Herald, 17 January 2010

Scottish ministers have abandoned their ban on nuclear waste dumping, opening the way for a proliferation of permanent radioactive dumps across Scotland.

In a major but unnoticed shift of policy, the environment minister Richard Lochhead has dropped his pledge to ensure that waste was only kept in stores near nuclear sites where it could be easily monitored and retrieved in case of leaks.

In a new policy document launched on Friday, the Scottish government is now also considering creating underground “disposal” facilities from which there would be no intention of retrieving the waste. This has led to accusations that the government could end up dispersing radioactivity in the environment.

It means that nuclear dumps could be created for centuries at or near existing nuclear sites at Dounreay in Caithness, Hunterston in North Ayrshire, Torness in East Lothian and Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway. The waste would remain dangerous for thousands of years.

Revealed: Thatcher wanted to dump nuclear waste in Scotland

from Sunday Herald, 17 January 2010

The former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, insisted on investigating dumping nuclear waste in Scotland in defiance of fierce objections from her Scottish Secretary in 1989, Malcolm Rifkind.

Secret Scottish government documents obtained by the Sunday Herald have revealed deep divisions within the then Conservative government in London and Edinburgh. 

Fellow ministers fought angrily behind the scenes over the highly sensitive - and still unresolved - issue of where to bury the highly dangerous radioactive waste left behind by Britain’s nuclear power and weapons programmes.

The revelations come from more than 200 pages released by the Scottish government after the biggest and longest freedom of information battle so far fought in Scotland. Files on nuclear waste were first requested more than four years ago, and have only now been unveiled at the insistence of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion.

The documents shed a fascinating new light on the internal squabbles that dogged attempts to solve the intransigent problem of what to do with nuclear waste, some of which remains lethal for hundreds of thousands of years.

Climate myth debunked: it’s been colder in the UK, but warmer elsewhere

from Sunday Herald, 17 January 2010

It’s the talk of the pub, the folklore of the taxi driver and the unremitting theme of thousands of bloggers and right-wing columnists. “See all this snow,” they say. “Where’s your global warming now?”

But, according to those who actually know, they are completely wrong. New data released by the Met Office shows that although Scotland, Scandinavia, northern Russia and the US have been much colder than usual, most of the rest of the world has been much warmer.

Alaska, the bulk of Canada, North Africa, southern European and central Asia have all been up to ten degrees hotter than normal for the time of year. Experts say that this firmly knocks on the head the idea that the UK cold spell somehow disproves global warming.

“Global warming is just that - a global long term phenomenon,” said Alex Hill, a senior Met Office adviser for Scotland. “The instance of one cold snap in one part of the world bears no relation to the longer term trend.”

Long-term, large-scale trends, combined with the overall statistics of extreme weather events, are all part of the evidence that scientists use, he pointed out. “However, individual weather events, from heat waves to big freezes, cannot be used either to prove or disprove climate change.”

New campaign launched to curb poaching

from Sunday Herald, 17 January 2010

It has a romantic image - the canny poacher sneaking out by moonlight to bag a stag on the local laird’s estate, and then scoffing or selling the venison. But it’s a crime, and one that the police are about to crack down on.

In an attempt to combat a steep rise in poaching wildlife, police forces across Scotland, backed by the government and landowners, are tomorrow going to launch a major new campaign.

They are calling on members of the public to inform on those who illegally kill deer, steal salmon or use dogs to hunt wild hares. They are criminals and their time is up, the police will warn.

Official figures from the national wildlife crime unit show that the number of deer poaching, fish poaching and hare coursing incidents leapt from 181 in 2008 to 328 in 2009.

Hare coursing has increased by 120 per cent, while fish poaching has increased by 75% and deer poaching by 47%. Some of the rise is attributed to the economic recession forcing people to find other ways of trying to make money or find food.

Freedom of information: a boon for hacks

from allmediascotland.com, 13 January 2010

Every now and again, it happens. The doorbell rings, and another fat package of once-secret official documents is handed over, and I get excited.

Maybe it’s just me, but the prospect of leafing through the previously private thoughts of public agencies always produces a little thrill. Sometimes, of course, they are as boring as reality television. But not always.

The last parcel to arrive, for instance, was about nuclear waste. More than four years after my initial request, a week later than promised and after all sorts of shenanigans, the Scottish government at last released a four-centimetre stack of documents from their nuclear waste files.

Revealed: Trident replacement postponed

from Sunday Herald, 10 January 2010

The UK government’s controversial £20 billion programme to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system on the Clyde has been thrown into disarray by an indefinite delay, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted that “further time” is now needed before a crunch decision can be taken on the design of the submarines needed to carry the new nuclear missiles. The decision was originally meant to be made last year.

One official statement released last week suggested that the earliest the decision could now be taken was July, which would take it beyond the forthcoming general election. But this timetable was later disowned by the MoD in an apparent attempt to save face, without giving an alternative date.

The main reason for the delay is suspected to be difficulties in agreeing the type of nuclear reactors that will power the submarines. According to one senior official, this was “the most tricky issue we have to deal with”.

Disturbing split within green groups over power line

from Sunday Herald, 10 January 2010

The bitter five-year battle over whether or not to string giant pylons 137 miles down Scotland’s spine has ended with a split in the environmental movement like no other.

On one side are those who care passionately about wild land and protecting the country’s stunningly beautiful landscapes. They include Ramblers Scotland, the John Muir Trust and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland.

On the other are those who strongly believe the sacrifice is essential to give the nation a clean, safe and climate-friendly energy future. They include Friends of the Earth Scotland, WWF Scotland and the Scottish Green Party.

The fractures between these groups have been visible for some time, particularly in the sometimes heated arguments over wind farms. But the intense dispute over the new power line from Beauly, west of Inverness, to Denny, west of Falkirk, has blown the cracks wide open, with disturbing implications.

The environmental movement in Scotland may never be quite the same again. These are, after all, groups that in the past have formed powerful joint alliances, successfully opposing the proposed superquarry on the isle of Harris and highlighting the fatal flaws of the Cairngorm mountain railway.

Cold could kill bumblebees

from Sunday Herald, 10 January 2010

Bumblebees could become one of the less expected casualties of the cold snap, triggering a “pollination crisis” in the summer, conservationists are warning.

Butterflies and beetles could also be killed by prolonged deep frosts, causing environmental problems. On the plus side, though, gardeners might benefit from the death of plant-eating slugs and snails.

The threat to insects comes on top of the dangers faced by birds and other  wildlife, denied access to food by frozen water and soil. According to farmers, as many as a million sheep are also at risk on the hills, where they could be totally submerged by snow.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, based at the University of Stirling, says that queen bees hibernating underground are now vulnerable to a “mass die-off” because of the extreme cold.

With temperatures plummeting to below minus 20 degrees centigrade in some areas, the queens may not have burrowed deep enough to escape freezing to death.

Whale-watching bid to stop Trump

from Sunday Herald, 03 January 2010

A bid to buy council land for whale-watching could stymie plans by the American tycoon, Donald Trump, for a luxury golf resort in north east Scotland.

Local campaigners are applying to buy a small plot of rough ground owned by Aberdeenshire Council which Trump says is essential for his controversial development. They are hoping to prevent the billionaire from getting the land cheaply.

Trump has been granted planning permission to develop the 1,411-square-metre coastal plot at the Menie estate near Balmedie, but he does not yet own it. It is one of several properties in the area which he needs to acquire to enable his £1 billion hotel, home and golf complex to go ahead.

But Sue Edwards, a local environmental campaigner, has written to Aberdeenshire Council saying that she is interested in buying the land to help the Seawatch Foundation, a conservation charity which monitors cetaceans at sea.

Trump’s golf complex would deprive people of access to the sand dunes at Menie, she argued. “We will loose an excellent viewpoint for whale and dolphin watching midway on the long stretch of dunes between Forvie and Balmedie,” she said.

Copenhagen failure puts hundreds of millions at risk

from Sunday Herald, 20 December 2009

The failure of world leaders to agree targets to cut climate pollution at the Copenhagen summit will lead to a global catastrophe and threaten the lives of hundreds of millions, leading scientists are warning.

As the fraught negotiations in the Danish capital ended in chaos, acrimony and recriminations yesterday, experts agreed that there was now little hope of keeping the average rise in global temperatures below two degrees centigrade.

They predicted instead that temperatures would increase by three degrees or more, bringing widespread flooding, major droughts and mass migrations, along with serious food and water shortages.

“It really couldn’t be any more serious,” said James Curran, the director of science at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and one of the Scottish government’s top climate advisors.

“It’s staggeringly frightening and deeply disappointing that Copenhagen has failed. This is extremely dangerous for Scotland and the world.”

Copenhagen: the climate climb down that will bring catastrophe

from Sunday Herald, 20 December 2009

For the last two weeks, three tall, thin, cloaked statues have stood, their carved faces staring towards the Bella conference centre in Copenhagen in a silent plea. Today, if they could, they would be weeping.

After two years of fraught international negotiations, a week of organisational chaos and three long sleepless nights, the Copenhagen climate summit has failed to deliver an agreement that will save the world from the ravages of global warming.

As a result, hundreds of millions of people across the globe are now condemned to floods, droughts, exile, famine and worse as sea levels rise, the climate destabilises and food production breaks down. 

“This is a tragedy that will harm the many millions of people in developing countries who are already suffering the effects of climate change,” said Nelson Muffah from the charity, Christian Aid. 

“Powerful nations didn't come to negotiate. They came to play hardball. Lives will be lost as a result. Already more than 300,000 people a year die as a result of climate change. That number will go up.”