Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
The Scottish Greens will “expose the lies of the big polluters”, co-leader Gillian MacKay said as she branded plans to develop the Rosebank oil field as “pure climate vandalism”.
Ms Mackay spoke as protesters opposing drilling gathered at the site in London on Saturday.
plans to develop north sea The field – which is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil – has been repossessed by owners Equinor.
However, Ms Mackay told the Scottish Green Party conference in Edinburgh: “We have to be the party that exposes the lies of the big polluters.”
Ms Mackay, who was elected co-leader with fellow MSP Ross Greer in August, told her fellow Scottish Greens: “Drilling for new oil and gas in areas like Rosebank will do nothing to reduce energy bills or protect our planet.
“This is pure climate vandalism and we have to stop Rosebank.”
The development of the oil field, located 80 miles west of Shetland, was approved by the Conservative government in 2023, but that decision was challenged in the courts in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that emissions from burning fossil fuels must be considered when granting permission for new drilling sites.
His comments came as Zac Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, insisted Britain is “one of the most nature-loving countries in the world”.
Addressing protesters in London, Mr Polanski said: “The least this government should do is stop making things worse.”
Ms MacKay also used her conference speech to attack him UK government Scotland’s only oil refinery closes grangemouth,
Hundreds of jobs were lost after owners Petroinios closed the refinery earlier this year, Ms Mackay, who grew up in the area, said: “I’m fed up of governments and corporations using tags like ‘just transition’ as a cheap slogan.
“What happened in Grangemouth is not a fair change.
“Our communities don’t need empty words, words don’t pay the bills, or put food on the table.
“They need real plans to provide real jobs and real opportunities.”
Ms Mackay insisted: “That site could have been saved. Labor Promises to save it – they promised £200 million – and Labour’s message is clear: show us the money.
He said the Grangemouth plant “could have been nationalised”, adding: “We cannot leave the future of our communities in the hands of billionaires who are all too happy to abandon us when the money runs out.”
The Scottish Greens are aiming to oust Labor in May’s Holyrood vote, with Ms MacKay saying her party was “on the brink of a historic election” with the chance to elect “more green voices than ever before”.
She also noted that the birth of her first child, Callan, in June meant she had “never felt more committed to building a greener Scotland”.
She joked that she was speaking at Saturday’s conference “relatively in one piece, without having too much influence on me” because she said the Green model, led by the two co-leaders, had allowed her to take on the challenge.
“In other parties there would have been a lot of barriers to a new mother being elected to a leadership role,” Ms Mackay said.
“It is only because of our co-leadership model and the support of ordinary members that I have had this opportunity.”
He further said, “The support I have received says something about our party and the values we stand for.
“When I think about the country I want it to be, it’s a country where we support each other, a country where we lift each other up and a country where we do things differently.”