AN independent Scotland must “look to the future” and not “bank its future” on oil and gas, according to the Scottish Greens.
Party co-leader Lorna Slater said Scotland would be powered by its people and its green energy after independence.
Speaking with The National at an event in central London on Monday ahead of the 50th anniversary of the of the McCrone Report, the Scottish Government minister said the country must not "look to the past”.
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The former green scientist said: “We have enormous potential for renewable energy in Scotland, not only to fully power ourselves from renewable energy but to be able to export that as well. So rather than looking at the past, what we need to do is look to the future.
“An independent Scotland can be powered by renewable energy but an independent Scotland will be powered by its people and its products and its society, just like any other country. It isn’t contingent on particular sector.
“The oil and gas sector has been declining for decades, it is in decline. It is on its way out.”
Her co-leader Patrick Harvie (above) added that an independent Scotland must plan for the “long term”.
He said: “I don’t want Scotland to be independent for the short-term. I wouldn’t want Scotland to become independent and then bank its future on something that’s not going to last. I want Scotland to be independent and be successful as an independent country for the long-term.
“That means you have to base your economy on something that is going to be there, something that will last, something that is sustainable.”
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf hits out at Labour's 'aggressive' windfall tax plan
Speaking at an event featuring all four Green parties of the UK, Slater confirmed if Scottish Green MPs were elected at the next General Election, they would back Labour’s plans for an oil and gas windfall tax.
Asked whether Green MPs if elected in Scotland would back Keir Starmer’s plans, Slater said: “A hundred percent, of course Scottish Green MPs or Green Party of England and Wales would support a windfall tax.
“The profit that the oil and gas industry are making are obscene.”
It puts them at odds with their Scottish Government partners – with First Minister Humza Yousaf last week branding the policy a “raid” on the north east.
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