Alberta premier tells business leaders energy industry must clean up its act by The Canadian Press, September 22, 2015, Global News
[Do Alberta business leaders like Doug Suttles, Jim Ellis and Gerard Protti give a damn if industry poisons Alberta families to death?]
The energy industry will be critical to Alberta’s economy for many years to come, but it must “clean up its environmental act,” the province’s premier told business leaders Tuesday night.
In her keynote address to the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, Premier Rachel Notley acknowledged the fiscal challenges facing the province while sounding a note of optimism about its future.
She said her NDP government will work to promote a healthy business climate, noting she will be travelling to New York next week to sell the province as a good bet for investors. [Is that wise when banks are pulling back from financing the globally destructive, poisonous, financially corrupt industry?]
“Supporting oilsands projects, establishing new opportunities in our energy economy and pioneering advanced technologies, all of this requires investment on a significant scale,” she said, promising to boost exports by seeking out new relationships and enhancing old ones.
“Albertans feel strongly, as do many business leaders across the province, including the energy industry, that it is long past due for Alberta to clean up its environmental act,” said Notley. “The poor quality of air in this province, as an example, is a direct threat to the health of our children and our seniors, and we need to do something about that. [And dangerously contaminated, deadly, exploding, blowing up drinking water supplies and community water towers?]
“If we don’t get our act together on this issue, a solution is going to be imposed upon us, sooner or later, by others — by the federal government, and by the markets who will increasingly insist that energy products that they buy be mined and processed responsibly.”
Speaking to reporters after the event, Notley admitted she had not expected Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to take the stance she did Tuesday against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Alberta oil to Gulf Coast refineries in the U.S.
Clinton told a town-hall meeting in Iowa that she opposes the project because it’s not in the best interest of “what we need to do to combat climate change.”
Notley said Clinton’s stance “doesn’t have a significant impact” for her government.
“Their politics are their politics,” Notley said. “I continue to be very focused on trying to find a way to get a pipeline to tidewater, because I understand that’s important for our energy market.” [Has Notley lost her mind, or did her chat with Encana’s CEO Doug Suttles (the day after the NDP won the provincial election) brainwash her to hell?]
Notley had previously said she wouldn’t advocate for either the Keystone XL pipeline or Enbridge’s contentious Northern Gateway proposal across British Columbia, but has given qualified support to Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion to the Vancouver area and TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline to New Brunswick.
“Our concern about Keystone is what that particular pipeline … meant for our capacity and the economic viability of more upgrading in Alberta. I was never really convinced that the people in Washington were spending a lot of time listening to what Alberta had to say. It was a question of whether we were using our resources wisely.”
A lot of fracing going on, releasing toxic chemicals into the air:
Red Deer area exceeds air-quality limits; environment minister concerned by The Canadian Press with files from Global News, September 9, 2015
The province says the Red Deer region in central Alberta has failed to maintain a federal standard for air quality.
Results from Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards show the area has exceeded the acceptable amount of particulate matter and ozone exposure.
Four other regions are approaching limits. [All being frac’d with secret, undisclosed toxic chemicals?]
Environment Minister Shannon Phillips says Alberta is on track to have the worst air quality in Canada if something isn’t done.
“The elevated levels in Alberta are a result of emissions from industrial point sources, but also non-point sources like vehicles,” said Phillips.
The Red Deer air zone is now required to develop a response to reduce levels.
The Wildrose said Thursday it wants the NDP to provide more information on the source and origin of the air quality information. The Official Opposition pointed out that Alberta’s Air Quality Health Index describes Red Deer’s air quality health risk as “low.” [Would anyone who thinks independently and critically believe any Alberta Health agency or staff?]
“Without a better explanation from the NDP, any new policy appears to be an overreaction,” said Wildrose Environment Critic Todd Loewen. [The Wildrose/Harper party want more and more deregulation to allow the oil and gas industry to pollute without any emissions or pollution controls]
“We have conflicting data on the government’s own website and they have failed to identify pollution sources for the Red Deer data. It is clear we need to take a more balanced approach to this issue based on evidence and not ideology. Albertans will be rightfully dubious about claims that the Red Deer area has Alberta’s dirtiest air.”
Loewen also called on the government to provide comparisons to other provinces, identify sources for declines in air quality, and provide “common sense solutions.”
“Everyone wants clean air but it looks like the Environment Minister needs to do more homework before jumping ahead with new policies and regulations,” Loewen said.
Phillips said the four other zones – the lower Athabasca, upper Athabasca, North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan – must develop plans to keep their levels from getting worse.
“I have heard from Albertans that they are worried about the impact of harmful emissions on the health of their families,” said Phillips. “We know, the science tells us, that air quality has a direct impact on human health and that’s of concern to us as a government.
“We have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect the health of Albertans.”
It is the first year of annual reporting by provinces and territories. [Emphasis added]
[Refer also to: