John Swinney’s ex high school teacher said he is failing on climate change in a protest at Peterhead gas power station plans.
Retired Caroline Wilkinson, wearing a traditional teacher’s mortarboard, was standing outside the SNP conference venue today hoping to assert some authority on her formal pupil.
“He was a clever lad,” she said, flanked by a man wearing a John Swinney mask.
“But he needs to focus on climate policy.”
Gas power and carbon capture
She was among climate campaigners criticising abandoned green targets and trying to stop the new gas power plant being built in Aberdeenshire.
The project by SSE and Equinor is in the planning stages.
Friends of the Earth say it will increase pollution and lock the country into more fossil fuel reliance.
A “carbon capture” project linked to the scheme is also criticised for prolonging the shift to renewable sources.
Ms Wilkinson taught Mr Swinney German when he was a pupil at Forrester High School in Edinburgh.
Despite failing her ex student, she recalled he had been a kind teenager and organised a whip-round to buy her a soft toy when she was pregnant with her first child.
“Now he needs to get the government on the right track to fight climate change,” she added.
Energy company SSE said its plan would create jobs and keep the lights on.
“As set out in the planning application, the new power station would utilise carbon capture from the outset – ensuring the vast majority of emissions do not enter the atmosphere,” a spokesman for SSE Thermal said.
“Once operational, Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station will help to keep the lights on, facilitate the transition to net zero, and retain and create good jobs in the region.”
Conversation