Stephen Legault, Senior Manager for Alberta Energy Transition at Environmental Defence Canada, responded to Premier Danielle Smith’s pre-budget televised statement with the following: 

Since the early 1970’s fluctuating commodity prices and royalty regimes that reward wealthy oil producers while short-changing Albertans have been an established challenge on Alberta’s budget.

Rather than embracing new sources of revenue from renewable energy, Premier Smith’s only solution is to double down on the oil and gas sector that is poised to decline, while insisting that a new pipeline and increased fossil fuel production are the answer to the province’s fiscal woes. Alberta is producing record volumes of oil now. Producing more will not solve the problem. 

Premier Smith appears more interested in obeying petroleum industry CEOs than in reviving the jobs and revenue that could come from the province’s halted renewable energy business sector. In doing so, the Premier’s government has scuttled more than $30 billion in investment in the province’s economy in just one year. She should understand that killing 99 per cent of the investment in the world’s fastest-growing energy sector isn’t the path to a balanced budget.

Instead of playing the blame game, Premier Smith’s government needs to reverse its misguided policy on renewable energy and open up the provincial coffers to tax revenue associated with the anticipated addition of 30,000 new jobs and the creation of hundreds of new corporate taxpayers.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca