Sorry this update is a bit late, friends; I became a first-time mother-in-law over the weekend and then had to meet a pressing deadline today. Now, I’m all ears once again.
This week in AB
Renewable development restrictions preserve “pristine views”
My grandmother’s cousins had an acreage near Sundre, Alberta. They raised Clydesdales (that tore through the campground one time when someone left the gate open) and built a great gathering space that was used for both local school excursions and numerous family reunions. They’d constructed a rope obstacle course, a full outdoor kitchen, a large firepit and individual pits, and nearby was a creek where we picked up buckets of water to throw on unsuspecting family members as they rested comfortably in the summer sun.
Each night, I fell asleep to the sound of pumpjacks drilling sour gas just east of the campsite in the middle of their land.
Pumpjacks on private land, amongst the fields, can be seen from secondary highways all over the province. These man-made obstructions were viewed as a source of pride. Like the skyrises that eventually obscured the Calgary tower from then Highway 2 as you approach the city, they were signs of prosperity.
Alberta has, until recently, tended to view all things that make money with a knowing nod and an urge to walk just a little taller. Then, green energy made its debut.
I’ll add here that this is also a province that spent some $3 million on a sole-sourced inquiry into anti-oil sands advocacy in Alberta back in 2019-2021. It basically produced a list of known environmental advocates and absolutely nothing to justify its price tag. As Smith’s account noted in the above screenshot, Alberta has been attracting billions in green energy investment over the last few years as well — and I’ve yet to hear the UCP-led government offering to find out who is funding the increasing antagonism towards our burgeoning green energy sector. But, I digress.
Peter Lougheed’s foresight in committing public dollars towards oil sands development wasn’t a result of a lack of energy development in the province. In fact, Lougheed faced pushback from existing oil producers on the move. Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to realize that the oil sands held much greater opportunity for the province’s next generation, and allowed Danielle Smith to have the same choice as he did more than 50 years before.
Danielle Smith, when faced with the same opportunity for Alberta’s future, decided instead to block that investment in most of the province.
Personally, as I have seen wind turbines popping up along Alberta’s secondary highways over the past decade or so, I felt just as much pride as I had growing up with pumpjacks. New energy, new opportunities — it was perfectly in line with how I viewed my province — just another example of our ability to take the resources we are lucky enough to have and make them work for us.
That is, until our government, led by Danielle Smith, stood up and said they won’t allow anyone to make that choice. As Martin Olzynski said, “Alberta is a place where a landowner can’t legally say NO to O&G development, but also can’t say YES to renewables.”
Don’t even get me started on how far behind rural oil and gas companies are on their property taxes — that’s just a $250 million-dollar head start on the problems to come.
For decades, we have heard our government say that we need to diversify our economy and our revenue sources — Danielle Smith herself has said this — and when the opportunity was right on her doorstep, with money in hand, she slammed the door in their face.
Alberta Budget
Last week, Smith took to the airwaves to steel Albertans for the budget which came out on February 29.
I say “steel Albertans for” because she talked a lot about fiscal restraint — which I expected being that revenues were forecast to be lower than expected. With that being said, Smith pulled a bait and switch and produced a higher spending budget than her address would have suggested.
There is additional money for healthcare and education, and some additional funding to post-secondary institutions to increase the province’s healthcare staff. While spending may still be lower than provincial growth, it appears that funding will be available to relieve some pressures both today and tomorrow.
I’m sure we can find something to complain about, but since we still come out with a $300 million-dollar surplus, and some of the more pressing concerns seem to be accounted for, I can’t find one at the moment.
Final thoughts
I would like to tell the government here, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander". If they are going to be responsible about green energy being responsible for any clean ups, they'll hold the oil industry to their responsibilities. I know this won't happen because even if there are billions worth of green energy investments, the oil industry is calling the shots and they are only worried about their profits.