Stephen Legault, Senior Manager, Alberta Energy Transition, response to Alberta NDP Official Opposition Leader, Naheed Nenshi’s energy policy
Canmore | Traditional territories of the Treaty 7 Nations – Environmental Defence is glad to see the Alberta NDP (ANDP) pledge to reverse the province’s regressive renewable energy policies and invest in energy storage, but this is overshadowed by an outdated fixation on building crude oil pipelines to the BC coast and reviving Energy East.
Linking the province’s separatism agenda with energy policy is astute, but advancing a status quo agenda that panders to Big Oil isn’t likely to affirm Alberta’s place in confederation. By supporting Alberta’s dependence on crude oil, the ANDP are feeding into the lie that more oil and gas production is the key to the province’s long-term economic stability. It is not. Albertans need to prepare for a future where crude oil and natural gas no longer power the world, or enrich the province’s coffers.
In a recent interview Mr. Nenshi stated that the energy transition might come in our grandkids’ grandkids’ generation. This assertion is woefully ill-informed, and it’s deeply concerning to hear this from Mr. Nenshi. All independent analysts, including Bloomberg NEF, the International Energy Agency, and Ember, reinforce that the energy transition is well underway and inevitable. Failing to grasp this bedrock truth about the global energy market, which Alberta relies on for a quarter of its provincial income, is both dangerous and short-sighted.
Reinforcing the Alberta UCP government’s key talking points on energy is not likely to result in a political advantage for the ANDP. We strongly encourage Mr. Nenshi to re-examine both global energy transition statistics and consider revisions to his energy policy that reflect the reality of global energy markets.
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Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca
