Isn’t one of the biggest factors in terms of fuel poverty the poor condition of a lot of our housing stock? In rural areas particularly, a lot of our housing is old, poorly insulated and in many cases practically impossible to effectively insulate. As they are also furthest from the gas supply they pay over the odds for oil and electricity.
I agree that energy privatisation is a disaster, but other factors contribute as much if not more to fuel poverty in Scotland, at least in comparison to the other parts of the UK.
Jackie You are so correct about this. It is extremely bad policy to charge people more for electricity, including higher charges for "transport" of electricity, while those who live in large centres of population far from the sources of energy pay less. It is bad not only because of the higher incidence of fuel poverty, but also, as in Denmark and Norway, electricity should be used as close to the source of production as possible. That is why Norway from the early days of Hydro Power took industry to the power, and not power to industry, resulting in rural industrialisation (smelting metal working, etc). Otherwise, as you say, there is much waste in its transportation (which rural and remote dwellers have to pay for) and much anguish from those caring about the scenery the pylons pass through. It is also why northern Sweden is attracting new settlers due to industry based on renewables for the green transition. A third reaspn it is bad policy is because it denies the principles of "equivalence" which states that citizens have rights to live where they want and should be treated equivalently with respect tpo such things as wages, access to education and health, access to potable water, and so on. Energy is almost a human right and it is certainly necessary for the majority of us, so people should not be treated unfairly in that matter of energy prices etc. The equivalence principle held for postage and many other items. My memory also tells me that it held during the days of the publicly owned NOSHB led by Tom Johnston. More recently, it was also the core principle in the argument for road equivalent tariffs on ferries, and is still a principle for most public roads.
So yes Keep up the good work on this. Things are Manifestly Wrong in the UK!
"An important driver of energy poverty is that most of rural Scotland doesn’t have access to the gas network. It costs four times as much to heat your home with gas because of the way that pricing is structured in the UK.” This makes no sense: if rural Scotland had access to gas and was paying four times as much as (what?) fuekl poverty would surely be even more rampant!!?
Isn’t one of the biggest factors in terms of fuel poverty the poor condition of a lot of our housing stock? In rural areas particularly, a lot of our housing is old, poorly insulated and in many cases practically impossible to effectively insulate. As they are also furthest from the gas supply they pay over the odds for oil and electricity.
I agree that energy privatisation is a disaster, but other factors contribute as much if not more to fuel poverty in Scotland, at least in comparison to the other parts of the UK.
Certainly poor insulation is a factor. But houses in England are poorly insulated too. But yes xerox do need to insulate more homes
The Clockwork Shadow: An Energy of Secretary Lament based on Chris White (Trump’s pick)
Beneath the veil of state design,
A specter stirs through covert line,
Chris White ascends, a cipher’s guise,
His polished mask but cloaked disguise.
At BlackHydra’s throne of oil and fire,
He forged his path, his dark empire.
Through Arctic chills to Amazon’s breath,
His trade was plunder, his yield was death.
In whispers deep, they spin the tale,
Of deregulation’s wicked gale.
Methane loosed, green laws undone,
A race toward a scorched earth run.
The “clean coal” ruse, a fleeting gleam,
A Trojan horse within the scheme.
Geoengineering tempts the sky,
While truths of science he’ll deny.
A technocrat? A puppeteer,
Embedding pawns year after year.
He binds the watchdog, dulls the blade,
In Kafka’s maze, all laws degrade.
He casts as villains those who fight,
For Earth, for truth, for solar light.
“Globalists!” his battle cry,
To fracture minds and amplify.
Through webs of power, his chessboard grows,
As pipelines pulse where the land once glows.
The commons crushed, the megaphones ring,
While fossil barons crown their king.
Yet those who watch with eagle’s sight,
See through the fog of scripted blight.
Connect the threads, expose the plan,
Awake the will of every man.
For though the game seems darkly played,
The light of truth cannot be swayed.
The Earth resists, its voice profound,
And those who hear shall turn it ’round.
Resist the burn, the shadowed grip,
Reverse the course of White’s dark ship.
For in the clash of night and dawn,
The people rise, the lie withdrawn.
GQ
This is great - love it. Thanks
Breathtakingly brazen, corporate robbery, facilitated by an entrenched colonial master. 😤😡🤬
Jackie You are so correct about this. It is extremely bad policy to charge people more for electricity, including higher charges for "transport" of electricity, while those who live in large centres of population far from the sources of energy pay less. It is bad not only because of the higher incidence of fuel poverty, but also, as in Denmark and Norway, electricity should be used as close to the source of production as possible. That is why Norway from the early days of Hydro Power took industry to the power, and not power to industry, resulting in rural industrialisation (smelting metal working, etc). Otherwise, as you say, there is much waste in its transportation (which rural and remote dwellers have to pay for) and much anguish from those caring about the scenery the pylons pass through. It is also why northern Sweden is attracting new settlers due to industry based on renewables for the green transition. A third reaspn it is bad policy is because it denies the principles of "equivalence" which states that citizens have rights to live where they want and should be treated equivalently with respect tpo such things as wages, access to education and health, access to potable water, and so on. Energy is almost a human right and it is certainly necessary for the majority of us, so people should not be treated unfairly in that matter of energy prices etc. The equivalence principle held for postage and many other items. My memory also tells me that it held during the days of the publicly owned NOSHB led by Tom Johnston. More recently, it was also the core principle in the argument for road equivalent tariffs on ferries, and is still a principle for most public roads.
So yes Keep up the good work on this. Things are Manifestly Wrong in the UK!
Thanks for that - very interesting about Norway
"An important driver of energy poverty is that most of rural Scotland doesn’t have access to the gas network. It costs four times as much to heat your home with gas because of the way that pricing is structured in the UK.” This makes no sense: if rural Scotland had access to gas and was paying four times as much as (what?) fuekl poverty would surely be even more rampant!!?
mistake! meant to say lec