Salmond's carbon footprint is almost 6 times the national average
I have always found the First Minister to be a bit of a hypocrite. He speaks of social justice, then slashes taxes and cuts services. He speaks of ability to pay, but his career is based upon a cause which would put all of Scotland's fantastic jobs at risk. And, and arguably most importantly, he speaks of the need to address climate change, but actually has one of the biggest carbon footprints in Scotland.
It didn't take long to go through a few PQs and find some intersting facts...
- From May 2007, to January 2008, the FM took 542 trips in Ministerial car and 0 by train
- One of the only two times the FM has taken the train since being FM was in the USA.
- From just May to November 2007, he racked up 0.93 tonnes of CO2 emissions in his ministerial car alone
- On 24th May 2007, Salmond took a ministerial car from the Parliament to Holyrood Palace
His 98 flying hours which was disclosed was worth, I thought, banging into a wonderous carbon calculator, and it made me a pretty graph...
It told me that even excluding all of Salmond's household or other personal energy, he managed to rack up over 32 tonnes of CO2 emissions, coming in at almost 6 times the national average of 5.5 tonnes, and over 7 times the UK government target of 4.2 tonnes by 2020.
Salmond continues to lead from the top, without his toes ever touching the ground, carrying the message to the people across our great nation, "Do as I say, not as I do".
8 comments:
Your argument would fall apart if he off sets his carbon emissions. In which case his footprint would be much less.
Infact after being asked about the carbon footprint of the government car service John Swinney said:
"We act to reduce the carbon footprint of the service wherever practicable. As a consequence, we have introduced four hybrid cars to the fleet and the diesel Volvos recently purchased for GCS emit 12% less CO2 per kilometre than the dual fuel (petrol/LPG) models they are replacing."
AGH children, hellooo!
Well Mono, the cars only come in at a couple of tonnes of CO2, compared to the over 90 the flights use. And I DID factor in the 3 hybrids, the Volvo 2.4 litre diesels, and the petrol 2 litre duel fuel petrol LPGs. (I'm not quite as stupid as I look... Well... not all the time.... Just most of the time...)
PJ,
Emm.... thanks... A very constructive argument you've got going there... Why don't you do someone else's then and compare. Just to let you know it takes a while...
Plenty of politicians use public transport whenever they can. Jack McConnal, regularly walked around- I know because I saw him all the time!
Alex Salmond's gone on and on about the environment, but has done nothing about changing his ways.
A CAR FROM THE PARLIAMENT TO HOLYROOD PALACE?! Even I could have dragged his backside there...
I imagine it does take time to work out a carbon footprint - especially when you haven't got George Foulkes available to waste public resources on obtaining your source data.
I agree with PJ entirely. Once again you take the seed of a serious topic and drown it in partisan rhetoric and personal abuse.
Every credible political leader in the UK has a lot to say about climate change. So does Gordon Brown. Lets see the figures for all of them for comparison.
(Amittedly Blair and Brown's carbon footprints are somewhat boosted by the illegal war they instigated and maintain in Iraq...)
Given that the Holyrood Palace trip was for the First Minister of Scotland to visit the Queen at the start of his FMship (curious you didn't mention that), I think we can probably forgive him that little ego trip.
Salmond's record on these matters is nothing to be proud of, but he's far from alone in that.
You need to make your mind up Matt - do you want to write a thoughtful blog touching on important issues in an intelligent way? Or do you want to be a Labour attack dog?
I'd suggest you go for the former as there are many more seasoned and effective attack dogs than you out there.
Dear me. You have completely lost the plot here. Which taxes has the SNP slashed?
And we would lose all of our fantastic jobs if Scotland became independent?
Well I suppose that depends how you define fantastic.
Soldier in Iraq?
What a fantastic job that is - why don't you give it a go before those nasty nats take the opportunity away? I hear they are still recruiting. I'm sure you would really enjoy it.
If there was ever a reason for raising the voting age, it's posts like this.
are you George Foulkes ....are you George Foulkes are you George Foulkes n disguise... are you George foulkes in disguise!
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor0904-02.htm#Col10519
2. George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what lead ministers are giving the public on reducing their individual carbon footprints. (S3O-4046)
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment (Richard Lochhead): Scottish ministers, like everyone in Scotland, need to take decisions on transport, energy use, purchases and waste that contribute to lower carbon lifestyles. Our greener Scotland campaign shows people how simple steps can improve the environment.
George Foulkes: Indeed, but is the cabinet secretary aware that the average person's carbon emission is 5.5 tonnes per year? I have used the National Energy Foundation's carbon calculator to do some calculations on the First Minister's carbon footprint. On travel alone—without taking account of any of his household emissions—his footprint is over six times that amount. Since he became First Minister, Alex Salmond has travelled by train only once and takes regular trips by limousine from Bute house to Holyrood. Should he not also set an example or, as is usual with the First Minister, is it another example of, "Do as I say and not as I do"?
Richard Lochhead: Sometimes I think that the best way to help to tackle global warming would be for the member to reduce the amount of hot air that he produces in the chamber.
Unlike many others who have to travel to the Parliament from far and wide around Scotland in their everyday business as ministers and members of the Scottish Parliament, the member does not have far to travel from his constituency office and home. If we had not inherited such a neglected public transport system from previous Administrations, perhaps the situation would have been different.
Like other members of the Government and members across the chamber, the First Minister is showing leadership by supporting some ambitious environmental legislation to protect the planet and our precious environment here in Scotland. He announced that yesterday as part of his statement on the legislative programme. In particular, we have Scotland's first climate change bill. That is leadership of the best quality. The First Minister is in the lead.
Anyways you didn't tell me if the first minister off set his carbon. A bit unfair to say his carbon footprint is 6 times the average, when it wouldn't be if he offsets all his flights. Anyways I agree with JP, the labour party needs to stop griping.
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