• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration March 19, 2023
Repsol Abandons Plan to Ship Canadian LNG to Europe March 17, 2023
Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska March 14, 2023
U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse March 14, 2023
$30.9B Price Tag Makes Trans Mountain Pipeline a ‘Catastrophic Boondoggle’ March 14, 2023
Next
Prev

Consultations Will Let Albertans Say ‘No’ to Rocky Mountain Coal Mining, Minister Promises

March 19, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes
Full Story: The Canadian Press @CdnPressNews
Primary Author: Bob Weber @row1960 and Bill Graveland @BillGraveland

Alberta Newsroom/flickr

Alberta Newsroom/flickr

1
SHARES
 

Alberta’s energy minister has promised people will be able to say “no” to coal mining in the Rocky Mountains during upcoming consultations.

“Albertans will tell us how they want to see coal development—if they want to see coal development—and, if they want to see coal development, where it will be,” Sonya Savage said Tuesday.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

Savage was responding to questions from NDP Opposition critic Kathleen Ganley during a meeting of the standing committee on resource stewardship, The Canadian Press reports.

The story appeared a day after the NDP put forward legislation to ban coal mining in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. A day later, Environment Minister Jason Nixon was “reassuring rural municipalities in the province’s dry south that their water supply isn’t threatened by industrial development such as coal mines,” CP adds.

“Alberta continues to have some of the most rigorous water licence rules [and] environmental rules when it comes to the protection of water,” he told a Rural Municipalities Alberta convention.

The province’s United Conservative government has promised consultations on Rocky Mountain coal development will begin March 29. They were announced in February in response to public outcry over the government’s decision to revoke a policy that had protected the summits and eastern slopes of the Rockies from surface coal mines since 1976. 

Exploration leases on thousands of hectares were sold on formerly protected so-called Category 2 land. Those leases remain active, although new sales have been halted. 

No details about the consultations have been released. Critics have wondered if the consultations will give Albertans the option of telling the government not just under what circumstances they would accept mines, but whether they want them at all.

The land in question includes the headwaters for much of the province’s drinking water.

Savage said Tuesday that details are to be released shortly. She suggested their scope will be broad.

“We’re going to hear the views of Albertans,” Savage said. “We’re going to listen to them before we take any next steps with respect to what can or can’t be developed on Category 2 lands.

“You’re trying to suggest that…those leases are going to stay after the coal consultations and that coal mining will be permitted in Category 2 lands, which is as far from the truth as possible,” Savage told Ganley.

Savage also promised talks with area First Nations. 

“There will definitely be government-to-government direct consultations with Indigenous communities,” she said. “That will run parallel with consultation that will start on the 29th.”

If the government wanted to assure Albertans its mind was really open on the issue, it could start by stopping any further work on exploration leases already sold, Katie Morrison of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society told CP’s Bob Weber.

“I would have more confidence if they cancelled the exploration permits…pending the outcome of these consultations,” she said in an email.  

“If they really have no predetermined outcomes, then companies should not be able to continue to damage these landscapes and incur costs that could be subject to compensation from Albertans later.” 

Morrison said the further along coal companies get, the harder it will be to implement land use plans and the more expensive it will be to reclaim damage caused by exploration activities such as drilling and road-building.

Elements of this report by The Canadian Press were first published March 15-17, 2021.



in Biodiversity & Habitat, Canada, Climate & Society, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, Health & Safety, Jurisdictions, Legal & Regulatory, Methane, Sub-National Governments

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

EcoFlight
First Peoples

Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration

March 19, 2023
316
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr
Oil & Gas

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
37
Wikimedia Commons/Humans of Vanuatu
Ending Emissions

Six Countries Call for Fossil-Free Pacific

March 19, 2023
11

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

David Dodge, Green Energy Futures/flickr

U.S. Solar Developers Scramble after Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

March 14, 2023
506
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
37
EcoFlight

Historic Deal Reopens B.C. Indigenous Territory to Fracking, Promises Land Restoration

March 19, 2023
316
Behrat/Wikimedia Commons

Hawaii Firm Turns Home Water Heaters into Grid Batteries

March 14, 2023
491
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board/flickr

$30.9B Price Tag Makes Trans Mountain Pipeline a ‘Catastrophic Boondoggle’

March 14, 2023
274
Rebecca Bollwitt/flickr

Fossils Stay ‘Oily’, Gibsons Sues Big Oil, U.S. Clean Energy Booms, EU Pushes Fossil Phaseout, and Fukushima Disaster was ‘No Accident’

March 14, 2023
231

Recent Posts

Wikimedia Commons/Humans of Vanuatu

Six Countries Call for Fossil-Free Pacific

March 19, 2023
11
Wikipedia

Fossil Funding Makes Indigenous Resource Network a ‘Propaganda Machine’, Opponent Says

March 19, 2023
7
@davenewworld_2

Keystone Pipeline Safety Worries Lawmakers after TC Energy Ordered to Reduce Operating Pressure

March 19, 2023
14
moerschy / Pixabay

Planetary Weight Study Shows Humans Taking Most of Earth’s Resources

March 19, 2023
7
Environmental Defence Canada/flickr

Repsol Abandons Plan to Ship Canadian LNG to Europe

March 18, 2023
269
U.S. Bureau of Land Management/flickr

Biden Approves $8B Oil Extraction Plan in Ecologically Sensitive Alaska

March 14, 2023
138
Next Post
Greg Goebel/Wikimedia Commons

China Leads, Canada Places Seventh in Methane Output from Future Coal Mines

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}