http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26314009

So nobody suggesting…errr…..leave it in the ground?

I imagine the Greens would be the only party saying anything like that! What a lot of fuss over not very much remaining increasingly expensive and hard to extract oil that will only tick along for a few more decades.

Cameron coming to Scotland in referendum year to say “Look at all these things the UK will do”- only question for him is if the UK’s so great for Scottish oil why haven’t you done this already?

As much as you might want to see a post-oil future, we’re not there, and the question isn’t whether we can cut extraction- it’s whether we can get over the oil addiction before it runs out completely. Frankly extracting north sea oil is probably more environmentally friendly than many of the alternatives, a fall in production in one place will lead to a rise in pressures elsewhere.

Yes. I just thought that as ‘rival visions’ go, these appear pretty damn similar.

If Scotland is really thinking long term, about being independent, then leave it in the ground for at least 100 years, exploit their huge renewable resources in the meantime, then sell it off later for silly money.

More likely they want to extract it now for that one-off bonanza. Then have another vote & come back into the UK in 30 years when it’s all gone forever.

If Scotland is really thinking long term, about being independent, then leave it in the ground for at least 100 years, exploit their huge renewable resources in the meantime, then sell it off later for silly money.

You’re expecting intelligence. This is politics….

(That, and if they leave it there for 100 years, the UK might just invade them for it by then anyway)

Therein lies one of the big hypocrisies of the indy plans. “We want Scotland to be nuclear free and get all our energy from renewables, because we’re going to show the world how green we are” & “We’re going to make shit loads of cash from selling oil!”.

Thing is, Scotland doesn’t need the oil money (allegedly) so it could be left in place, at no financial penalty. Really, Scotland should be exploiting CO2 storage, but then I might be biased 😉