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Vicky Allan

Vicky Allan

Herald Scotland

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People do love salmon. But, in the name of sustainability, could tastes change?

People do love salmon. But, in the name of sustainability, could tastes change?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. People love to eat salmon. I know that, and I have enjoyed a fair few plump pink...

03.03.2026 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Wave energy over for Scotland? We'll regret it when we're buying it back

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. You would think, given recent news of the Scottish Government’s dropping of...

24.02.2026 9

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Who is responsible for this mess? The sad state of a once-loved public path

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. The rusted frame of a mattress, so decayed that all that is left now are its...

17.02.2026 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Where is the Highland clean energy boom? Signs of promise at the freeport

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. “Wouldn't it be good,” the CEO of the Inverness & Cromarty Firth...

11.02.2026 1

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Renewables revolution in jeopardy as UK Government fails to deliver key change

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. "There is," a director at one of ScotWind’s most-progressed projects...

04.02.2026 3

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

My family are all bacon-mad but I've ditched the meat - so how did that work out?

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. I’m not entirely vegan, but let’s just say that my diet is...

28.01.2026 5

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

No wonder communities despair at wind and battery park planning. It's a mess

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. Most of us these days seem to like renewables. Polls tell us that a...

22.01.2026 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

They are one of Scotland's food treasures so why are scallops now so problematic?

Whether to shell out and eat hand-dived scallops, or go for a supermarket pack of the cheaper dredged ones? Just one question in the ethical minefield...

14.01.2026 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Made in Scotland, but not just for us. How Scotland powered Britain through 2025

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. In recent days it has been widely trumpeted that renewable energy...

07.01.2026 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Calls to end 'barbaric' Scottish island hunt that kills hundreds of gannets

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. For centuries, ten Men of Ness have gone out, yearly, to kill young...

31.12.2025 9

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Spread the joy! Here's my top three genuine nature good news stories of 2025

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. Beavers? Red squirrels? Scottish Wildcats? I've been struggling to choose...

24.12.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Is Scottish Government scared that this might all turn into the The Clearances Again?

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. Many of the lines are already there on the map. We have know in Scotland...

17.12.2025 4

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

'The hidden face of Christmas.' French TV investigates Scottish salmon standards

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. “At three weeks to go till Christmas,” says a voiceover in a new...

10.12.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Yes, this is my cat. Flying. But do we really want to bust net zero for this AI slop?

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. Most of us know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is using a hell of a...

03.12.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

‘Intolerably dangerous’: the tram plan safety issues that are worrying cyclists

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. When it comes to Edinburgh trams and cycling, I’m probably guilty...

26.11.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

'No God-given right to exist' - does Scotland actually need a Wild Places charity?

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. A couple of weeks ago, in the wake of calls, made in articles in The...

19.11.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Tramworks. Mostly, like childbirth, I forget the pain. Then I remember

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. There are businesses on my street still living with the aftershock of...

12.11.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

We make a mess of Scotland's waters — it's way beyond sewage

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. It’s not all about the dirty spills. What is released out from our...

05.11.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Call for Scotland's ‘biggest land hoarders’ to be forced to restore nature

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. Large landowners should be forced to set out plans for nature recovery as...

29.10.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

40,000 jobs forecast for Scotland. Any chance UK clean energy plan will deliver?

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. “Our plans will help create an economy in which there is no need to...

22.10.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

What on earth is ‘doughnut economics’? And why and how has Glasgow tried it?

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. Doughnuts, fat-laden and sticky, are not renowned for being good for...

08.10.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

What I learned about deer management from the John Muir Trust controversy

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. How we kill deer, who does it, and for what reason, is an emotive issue....

01.10.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Aagh. That's it! I have banned myself from tap-on tap-off on Edinburgh trams

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. One of the things that sticks in my mind from when, back in May, I was...

24.09.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Can we put a value on loss of the Roseburn Path to trams? Here's my try

This article appears as part of the  Winds of Change  newsletter. At intervals along this tunnel of green, the words ‘Save This Path’...

17.09.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Car is dead. An EV seems unfeasible, so I'm obsessing over car sharing instead

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. It is, for those who weren’t aware of it, World EV Day, and this has brought...

10.09.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Maximise oil and gas? Can we move on and solve offshore wind, please?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. So Kemi Badenoch wants to extract all the oil and gas in the North Sea. Fossil...

03.09.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Berries early, 'catastrophic' harvests. Should we panic, or was farming always thus?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. I grew up on a farm and I remember the way the weather featured in our lives....

20.08.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Arthur's Seat wildfire reminds that it's pesky humans that are the problem

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. Swimming off Portobello beach on Sunday, I saw the plume as it started to drift...

13.08.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Forget bottles. These are the less well known plastic wastes that really worry me

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. This week, the world is coming together to thrash out an agreement on the UN...

08.08.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

This pro nuclear power campaign is obsessed with 'baseload'. But do we need it?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. Lately there has been a mounting noise on behalf of more nuclear power in...

30.07.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Live to be 100? Maybe more of us could stand a chance if we listen to Devi The world and social media are brimming with influencers doling out the latest in longevity advice. Often they are wellness bros and millionaires, like tech entrepreneur Brian Johnson, offering tips on supplements, fasting techniques, ultimate diets and exercise regimes, from a position of privilege.

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. The world and social media are brimming with influencers doling out the latest in...

09.07.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Why is Scotland so slow on solar? We may not be in heat dome, but we do get sun The UK just produced a Solar Roadmap. But the Scottish Government is dragging its heels on photovoltaics. Where is the vision? We do get sun.

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. It’s been hot lately in parts of Scotland, though not quite the sauna that the...

02.07.2025 9

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Is Rosebank dead in the water following new guidance? The maths suggests so Guidance issued last week means a tighter test for new oil and gas fields. Does it mean it's all over for Rosebank and Jackdaw?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. The guidance published last week for a new climate test on new oil and gas fields...

25.06.2025 7

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Why Skye campaign is fighting off wind farm and what is says about energy roll out With consent given to a new powerline and a public inquiry into a new wind farm, Skye's locals are at center of energy debate

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. Tensions are growing in Scotland over clean energy infrastructure. Last week saw...

18.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Size of a cow. When is Scotland going to start tackling agriculture emissions? Scotland just published greenhouse emissions for 2023. And yet again, greenhouse gases from agriculture had barely shifted

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. When we talk about our stalling emissions progress in Scotland, so often...

11.06.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

War's climate toll. Emissions from Gaza may be 3/4 of Scotland’s annual The carbon footprint, a report says, of the first 15 months of the war on Gaza will be greater than annual emissions from many individual countries.

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. An article in the Guardian, based on a recent report, caught my eye this week. The...

04.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

I lived through 15 years of the tramworks on my street - here's what I learned My children grew up with the Edinburgh tram works on our Leith street. A new line is proposed. Here's what I learned

Sometime towards the end of the tram works on my street, I came across a tweet, actually from a few years beforehand, sharing a short bit of...

04.06.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Can the SNP solve its park problem - over both Flamingo Land and Galloway?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. The Scottish Government is looking like a flamingo with its ostrichy head in the...

28.05.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Could grid charge reform save consumers £16 bn? An offshore wind report says so Three firms behind some of Scotland’s largest offshore wind farms have called for transmission charge reform that could save £16bn

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. Three firms behind some of Scotland’s largest offshore wind farms have warned...

21.05.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Why Scottish heat pump installers want a grants scheme more like England's Heat pump installers are losing payments and pulling out of taking on new jobs. And all because of the way Scotland's heat pump grants work

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. Matthew Henney, director of Eco Energy Ltd, says that he is down £88,000 in...

14.05.2025 30

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

David Attenborough's Ocean is a call for action. Is Swinney listening?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. At close to a century old, Sir David Attenborough is taking us on another deep dive...

07.05.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

What does Spain's blackout tell us about grid security and renewables? Speculation abounds about Spain's blackout. But what do we really know about its causes? And what do we learn for UK grid?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter We know certain things about the power blackout that hit most the Iberian Peninsula...

30.04.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Sell off of our public buildings. And the urban area pioneering how to save them In Portobello, Edinburgh’s seaside town, a project is showing a route for many communities across Scotland to hold onto their spaces.

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter That police station that got sold off, the local church, the toilets, all...

23.04.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Nature crisis more 'urgent' than climate. Expert's devastating assessment 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

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter If there’s one scientist in the world who has the big brain overview on the health...

16.04.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

90 fire call outs. Galloway ablaze. But are wildfires increasing? And is it climate?

This article is delivered as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. It’s shocking to see the images of any wildfire, the landscape lit by flames...

09.04.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

The real horror that Scotland's extreme beach cleaners are worried about Some of the plastic on Scotland's beaches is disintegrating and becoming part of the bigger global health worry - micro plastics

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter In Shaping Our Shores, the film I featured in last week's article on the shocking...

02.04.2025 30

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Scotland's forests in need of a just transition. People want a 'stake and say' A report from Just Transition Commission says people want a say and stake in tree-planting. It echoes what we found in The Herald's Scotland's Forests series

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. “Over-planting of monocultures (eg Sitka),” says a new report by the Just...

26.03.2025 10

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Brewdog, Stobo Hope. Is Scotland set to fail on both timber and net zero?

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter. The UK Climate Change Committee’s seventh carbon budget report, published last...

19.03.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

Scotland's Forests: targets, timber shortage, controversies. A new Herald series

Not since the 1980s, when a backlash began against the investor-led plantations of the era, has it seemed like there has been so much tension around...

19.03.2025 8

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan

North Sea tanker crash. The story so far and how it could impact wildlife

This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter The drama and terror is in the photographs and footage: the clouds of black,...

13.03.2025 20

Herald Scotland

Vicky Allan