The Politics of Oil in a Changing UK

Together with Trevor Stack, Owen Logan, Terry Brotherstone and others, I’ve been involved in organising a public conference on the Politics of Oil in a Changing UK, which will bring together academics, politicians, environmental and civil right activists and trade unionists. The conference will be hosted by the University’s Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and the Rule of Law (CISRUL) and forms part of the University’s Energy Research Theme. It aims to stimulate broader public debate by addressing at the conference a series of key questions about the future of oil and gas in the UK (and beyond).

The conference will begin and end with a focus on the decisions to be taken on three (overlapping) sets of issues:

• What should be done with the profits of oil and gas?
• What should be the future of the oil and gas workforce?
• How can oil and gas production be best reconciled with care for the environment?

There will be a number of compelling speakers from Scotland and beyond, including Imre Szeman who leads the Petrocultures Research Initiative at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. He will be reflecting on the role and responsibilities of universities in relation to the global oil industry.