Author | Lightnews

Heat pumps. How do we avoid clean heat becoming 'two-tier' and making people poorer?

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Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · 9d

Jobs, bills, heat pumps, fuel poverty. Scotland's stalling heat transition risks leaving people out in the cold, and industry uncertain. Where we are at - and the big ideas. 🔥

Part of an @heraldscotland.bsky.social series, Scotland's Energy Future
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2556624...

The Herald examines the human cost of Scotland’s troubled heat pump rollout — and the risk of leaving households behind in the race to net zero.

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Reposted by Vicky Allan

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · 12d

Do the jobs figures add up? What are the opportunities and the questions? What’s the plan for workers rights?

www.heraldscotland.com/opin...

@vickyallan.bsky.social

'I can't afford an EV. And anyway, isn't car sharing better for the planet?'

Reposted by Vicky Allan

Kirsty Hughes @kirstyshughes.bsky.social · Sep 9

Good piece by @vickyallan.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/2545...

It is, for those who weren’t aware of it, World EV Day. But for many of us a more realistic way to reduce our footprint is car sharing.

John Muir Trust criticised for alleged 'toxic culture'

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Sep 15

The John Muir Trust AGM today takes place against a backdrop of tensions and calls for resignation of both Chair and CEO
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2544305...

Former staff, trustees and a previous chair of Scotland’s wild places charity, the John Muir Trust, have called for the resignation of its chair

'We’ve got encroaching forestry. It's swamping the town, economically, physically'

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Aug 29

Could Galloway Dark Sky park lose its status because of windfarms lights? How do we fight climate change and make sure we hold onto other disappearing aspects of the natural world?
Fascinating chat with concerned Dark Sky Ranger, Matthew MvFadzean

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · Aug 27

The expansion of windfarms around Galloway Dark Sky Park is causing stargazers to worry it could lose its status due to aviation lights

www.heraldscotland.com/news...

@vickyallan.bsky.social

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Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Aug 26

Cumulative forestry projects 'swamping' Langholm, say locals. The town is surrounded by land management changes. But the one upsetting some locals most is a conifer proposal for Warblaw. 🌲
My latest piece for @heraldscotland.bsky.social D&G series

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2541415...

The land around Langholm is changing, driven by nature restoration ambitions, carbon and timber market. But it's a forestry scheme that has upset…

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Reposted by Vicky Allan

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · Aug 25

Dumfries & Galloway has the second highest percentage of old people. But many young people choose to stay in the region - and love it

www.heraldscotland.com/news...

@vickyallan.bsky.social

This is what it was like to have years of tramworks outside my door

Reposted by Vicky Allan

Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · Jun 3

I really enjoyed this from my colleague @vickyallan.bsky.social in @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/2519...

My children grew up with the Edinburgh tram works on our Leith street. A new line is proposed. Here's what I learned

heraldscotland.com/news/25205710.fewer-bus-stops-make-edinburgh-buses-faster/

(7/10)

@vickyallan.bsky.social

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Reposted by Vicky Allan

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · Jun 5

heraldscotland.com/news/25206419.can-city-failed-just-eat-bikes-now-go-dockless/?ref=ial

(10/10)

@vickyallan.bsky.social

Reposted by Vicky Allan

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · Jun 5

Reposted by Vicky Allan

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · Jun 5

Catch up with the first three days of the series 👇

heraldscotland.com/news/subscri...

@vickyallan.bsky.social @turvill.bsky.social @martin1williams.bsky.social @brianjaffa.bsky.social

'We believe the decision by Scottish Forestry was unlawful.'

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · May 30

It's been such a joy -not to mention fascinating - to be on the team for the Herald's new series about my home city, Edinburgh.

Starting next Tuesday.

Pick up a paper 🗞️ or subscribe for great investigative reporting about tourism, festivals, transport, education and more ...

The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · May 30

We, at the Herald, know and love the beautiful, “mad god’s dream” of a city that is Edinburgh.

That's why next week, we have turned our investigative focus on the capital, asking the big questions about how it is set to change and what would make it thrive

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2520152...

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Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 29

Scottish Forestry is facing a potential third legal challenge in a year! And yet again it's over a commercial conifer plantation, chiefly Sitka. My piece for @heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2512226...

For the third time in a year, the Scottish Government’s forestry regulator is under threat of court proceedings - over a Sitka plantation (again).

Did the Murray Hall scandal, which rocked 1901 New York, lead back to Scotland?

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 24

ICYMI My piece on Murray Hall, and my collaboration with trans writer Milo Clenshaw was published in @heraldscotland.bsky.social the week before the Supreme Court decision.
Its illustration of how trans people have always been with us feels more pertinent now
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2508019...

Murray Hall's death from breast cancer in 1901 caused a scandal in New York. It was a mystery whose Scottish links still intrigue us now

If you believe in free speech you must defend Maggie Chapman

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 24

Great column here by Neil Mackay on free speech. But challenging to live. Who of us doesn't like, and protect, one free speech more than another?

Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · Apr 24

If you believe in free speech, then you must defend Maggie Chapman’s right to speak. You do not have to agree with her, but she should not be silenced

My column in @heraldscotland.bsky.social

www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...

The laws of free speech are immutable. They never change. They must not change. The founding principle is the hard, important ask: that we protect…

'You cannot focus only on oil, coal and gas. You have to do everything'

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 17

I felt lucky to interview Johan Rockström, the @pik-potsdam.bsky.social scientist behind the planetary framework ahead of his getting the Edinburgh medal.

But what he says is both chilling and challenging. It's a wake up.

In @heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/2509...

If there’s one scientist in the world who has the big overview on the health of planet Earth, it has to be Professor Johan Rockström

https://open.substack.com/pub/jackie125/…

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 17

Publication day! 🥳

I wrote this historical novel with trans writer Milo Clenshaw.
It happens to publish at the time of the Supreme Court ruling and some shocking transphobia out there online.

Share stories.
Come together.
Buy the book here
blackandwhitepublishing.com/products/murra…

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 16

My pal @jackiekemp.bsky.social wrote about #SupremeCourt decision and my novel Murray Hall.

"If the legal battle is now over, then perhaps we can take a break from the culture war too, and think about how we can build acceptance and respect."

Wishing for that.
open.substack.com/pub/jackie125/…

'There's a truth that we're not getting anywhere in our response to climate crisis'

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Apr 16

Breakdown here of what Supreme Court ruling may mean for trans people - by a trans writer

QueerAF @wearequeeraf.com · Apr 16

The legal definition of a woman in the UK now excludes trans people after a Supreme Court ruling defined sex as 'biological sex'

This is everything you need to know about the ruling 👇

Reporting by @jessothomson.co.uk 🧵🏳️‍⚧️

Screenshot of QueerAF website with headline: UK Supreme Court Rules That Trans Women Aren’t Women under the Equality Act 2010

Byline of Jess O'Thomson: Writer, legal researcher, journalist. Pronouns they/she. Intersectionalities trans, disabled, nonbinary woman, queer, working class / low income

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Reposted by Vicky Allan

Bobby Jewell @bobbyjewell.bsky.social · Apr 15

Who can we trust on Net Zero? Not, says expert, Oil and Gas

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2509017...

@vickyallan.bsky.social for The Herald >>

The oil and gas industry in Scotland is not to be trusted in defining a Net Zero strategy, a carbon footprint specialist has said.

Call to halt huge Scottish Borders tree planting scheme

Reposted by Vicky Allan

Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland @ercscot.bsky.social · Apr 7

Large tree plantations can significantly harm the environment.

Yet, Scottish Forestry requires Environmental Impact Assessments for very few of them & is breaching legal transparency duties.

Read full article by @vickyallan.bsky.social on the Herald:
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2506373...

A Scottish Borders community council has called for the halting of a proposed giant tree-planting scheme and echoed other community groups in…

All the articles in the series Scotland's Forests: Targets and timber shortages

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Mar 23

And by the way if you want to read our full forest series but the paywall is the barrier, there is a great offer subscription offer on at the moment

www.heraldscotland.com/subscribe/

Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Mar 23

Read the the Herald's full Scotland's Forest series here.

Grants, targets, controversies, Brewdog, timber shortages, environmental impact and more.

For @heraldscotland.bsky.social with @brianpdonnelly.bsky.social

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2501888...

From Brewdog's Lost Forest to Stobo Hope; from targets to grants, from timber to carbon emissions, all the articles in the series here

What a tour of a Scottish sawmill told me about timber shortages and net zero

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Vicky Allan @vickyallan.bsky.social · Mar 21

And here's the full article about the visit to the sawmill
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2502484...

Vicky Allan takes a tour round the sawmill near Lockerbie taking spruce logs and making construction timber and finds it is a lesson in timber…