Scotland can become a world leader in tackling climate change, ministers claimed yesterday as they launched the consultation on which they will base a bill in September.
However, it would be "foolhardy" to believe that every wind farm plan would meet with government approval, Finance Secretary John Swinney warned.
And, although environmentalists and opposition politicians backed the broad thrust of the bill, widespread concern remained about the detail, in terms of transport policy and the setting of regular targets on carbon emissions.
Mr Swinney predicted that the Scottish Government's decision to set a target of 80% reductions by 2050 would be followed by Westminster. "Watch this space," he said.
"The bill charts the course, not for the next six months or the next 12 months, it charts the course for the next 40 years. Scotland, in every component of our economy - individuals, business, government, public sector and the private sector - drawn together to focus on how we can reduce carbon emissions and make our contribution towards tackling climate change.
"It is a hugely ambitious agenda, one that the government is determined to pursue in the course of the period that lies ahead and one in which we want to engage the whole of Scotland," he said.
But environmentalists and opposition parties said the bill would have to include regular targets as well as a specific commitment for an interim goal in 2020.
The Stop Climate Chaos Scotland umbrella group gave broad backing to the consultation document yesterday.
Mike Robinson, of that coalition, said: "In order to meet overall targets it is essential that there is a commitment to annual reductions of at least 3% per year in statute. Without it, this is a departure from the SNP manifesto commitment.
"We will also be disappointed if the Scottish Government rules out the inclusion of emissions from international aviation in its targets."
Green MSP Patrick Harvie also welcomed the bill as a good first step, but said there had to be clear legal duties for ministers, the right long-term targets and the policies in place to achieve them.
"This won't just mean tinkering with policy in transport, energy, housing and agriculture. It will mean nothing less than the transformation of our economy, our society and our politics," he said.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats also gave a qualified welcome to the document but said aspirations had to be matched by action.
Mr Swinney refused to discuss the specifics of the controversial 181-turbine wind farm project in the Western Isles which is believed to be in the balance, but did say: "We have approved the second largest wind farm in Scotland in the course of our limited period in office "It would be foolhardy to believe that every single wind farm that comes forward for approval is going to get approval because not all will be in suitable locations.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article