In 19 70, british petroleum discovered a giant oil reserve 100 miles off the northeast coast of scotland. The company chose nig for its geography not its man power. Its port was a perfect place to produce oil rigs, or jackets, as people here called them. Fabricators built steel platforms more gigantic than any attempted before. They were anchored in the sea bed 400 feet down. To get to the oil, the drills had to reach another eight thousand feet below that. Jack shepherd began at Nig as a walding apprentice on those platforms. He says he loved it, because it was such a good environment,. and there was lots of people all day. There was americans
Among the wealthy, industrialized Western countries that created the climate crisis, Scotland is one of the leaders in pivoting away from fossil fuels – or promising to. Just how quickly will Scots be willing to cut off the flow – of oil, and money? Part 8 of The Repair, our series on the climate emergency.
Reported and written by Victoria McArthur, with additional writing and script editing by Cheryl Devall. Production and mix by John Biewen. Music in this episode by Lili Haydn, Kim Carroll, Chris Westlake, Lesley Barber, Cora Miron, and Maetar. Music consulting by Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.