At a time when many North Sea Oil workers are losing their jobs, ludicrous suggestions that the sector should be wound down and those that work offshore can be left to find alternative employment as lumberjacks or whatever are both ill-advised and insensitive.
Many people in the north-east and the rest of Scotland will be dismayed to hear that the industry has been written-off already by the Greens.
It is now very apparent that the Green Party seem determined to kill off an industry that still supports tens of thousands of jobs and will do for so many decades to come.
There is no doubt that the sector faces many severe challenges as a consequence of the significant and sustained fall in the price of crude oil and this represents a serious threat to our economic wellbeing, especially to the livelihoods of those employed in the industry and those communities who depend on it.
But it is important to remember that all is not lost – because the oil price is cyclical.
We have seen some recent historic oil price lows but sooner or later we would expect the price to come back.
What’s important is that we see the current situation in the industry is not about decline.
There will be a revival in the North Sea.
As the Scottish Parliament’s economy, energy and tourism committee concluded in a report just this week, with the right support the North Sea oil and gas sector has a sustainable future.
Politicians should work together to deliver that, not undermine it, and Patrick Harvie and the Green Party would do well to listen to and remember this advice.