Canada - Alberta Workers See Their Future. Denial Blocks the View. The province’s workers have a plan for the global energy transition. Premier Smith offers only fear and spin. 3 Sep 2023The Tyee Gil McGowan is the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, representing 175,000 unionized Alberta workers from both the public and private sectors. Is it Premier Danielle Smith, who suggests that anyone who questions the future of oil and gas in the province is essentially betraying workers?Or is it people like me, the president of Alberta’s largest worker advocacy group, who say workers in our province would be better served if we  prepare ourselves for change instead of burying our heads in the sand? This became a public question last week when Premier Smith decided to release a letter that I had written to her, along with her four-page reply. My letter added the voices of the 175,000 unionized Alberta workers I represent to the growing chorus of individuals and groups calling on her United Conservative Party government to rescind their ill-advised six-month moratorium on renewable energy projects. In my letter, I argued that the moratorium is “undermining a thriving home-grown industry, killing jobs and turning our province into an investment pariah.” It’s basically the same point that’s being made forcefully by many of my fellow Albertans — including academics, media pundits, labour and municipal leaders, businesspeople and ordinary citizens. In fact, one think tank has suggested that the moratorium is jeopardizing 118 projects worth $33 billion — projects which could create as many as 24,000 jobs for Albertans. In her reply to my letter, Smith professed to being shocked that I was “cheerleading the demise of Alberta’s oil and gas industry.” Of course, I did nothing of the sort. I simply pointed out that many credible forecasting agencies foresee a time in the not-so-distant future when global demand for oil will plateau and start to decline. In particular, I shared a link to a recent study prepared by the Calgary-based Canada Energy Regulator (hardly a radical environmental group) which concludes that demand for oil produced in Alberta could collapse in coming years as the world scrambles to address climate change. Given that the oil and gas industry has been one of the main engines for economic activity and jobs creation in Alberta for decades, I argued that “our governments, and political leaders at all levels, owe a duty to the workers of this province to think deeply about the change that is rapidly unfolding around us and plan for it.” I then challenged her to answer the following question: “in an oil and gas producing jurisdiction like ours, where will our future jobs and prosperity come from as the world accelerates the process of moving away from fossil fuels?” Smith’s reply was telling: “Alberta has no intention of moving away from the energy industry.”.....read on    https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2023/09/03/Alberta-Workers-Future-Denial-Blocks-View/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=040923   

Fury as Alberta cuts renewables during Canada’s worst fire season ever. Critics of the policy expressed concern that the decision will weaken investor confidence in solar and wind energy in the region. A decision by Canada’s largest oil- and gas-producing province to halt new wind and solar projects has prompted disbelief among environmental groups and economists. The move comes as the country struggles with its worst wildfire season on record, a situation that experts agree is worsened by the climate crisis and a reliance on fossil fuels. Alberta last week announceda six-month moratorium on large solar and wind projects so it can review policies surrounding the projects’ construction and impact on the power grid, as well as rules for their eventual decommissioning. These are all negotiable points — they’re draft regulations, after all. But that requires the Alberta government to actually be interested in negotiating on matters of substance rather than merely grandstanding on principle. Whether Smith wants to admit it or not, that tide is only going to get stronger. Alberta’s hostility towards the federal government’s decarbonization efforts will cost it in terms of its international reputation (hello,negative Guardian story), its ability to attract talent and capital, and its appeal to young people who might be considering it as a potential home. It has already cost jobs and investment in its renewable energy sector, and it will almost certainly deter other investments in related areas of the cleantech economy. Even the oil and gas industry, which theoretically needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions if it wants to remain economically viable over the longer term, may come to rue this decision. Since then, provincial and federal ministers have sparred over the controversial decision, exposing tensions between Alberta, which favours natural gas for power generation, and the governing Liberals, who have the broader ambition to decarbonize electrical grids across the country by 2035On Tuesday, the federalgovernment unveiled its initial plans to transition to clean energy nationwide, ahead of its Clean Energy Strategy in 2024. Acknowledging provinces’ responsibility for electricity infrastructure and delivery, the government also highlighted its own federal authority over environmental regulations and “strategic investments” to attain broader climate goals. “This came as a complete shock to the industry. And it’s really a broader shock to all industries in Alberta, for a government to take such a drastic action without any consultation,” said Jorden Dye, acting director of Business Renewables CentreCanada.Provincial officials have expressed concern over the rapid pace of investment and development of renewable-energy projects in the province – one of the sunniest and windiest regions of the country.But Dye says that the province has successfully balanced tensions between the speed of development and residents’ concerns for decades. “We’ve conducted regulatory reviews for both coal bed methane production and the oil sands industry for years – all without pausing development,” he said, adding that the decision even hurts the oil and gas industry – an increasingly large player in the province’s renewables market. “I’ve had many conversations over the last week, ranging from CFOs of oil and gas companies to my rural Alberta farming family. And no one can understand why this drastic action was taken.    https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/08/14/opinion/danielle-smith-cant-do-attitude-climate-change-will-cost-alberta?nih=2fde8cfb613fd3e898205d1dab47f625&utm_source=National+Observer&utm_campaign=0fe5ac9e52-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_08_12_01_52&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cacd0f141f-0fe5ac9e52-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Alberta is putting a booming renewable energy industry at risk and setting a double standard in the way it treats renewable and fossil fuel development, clean energy groups said today, after the province slapped a seven-month moratorium on new solar and wind projects over a megawatt in size. The decision could erode investor confidence and undermine the “Alberta advantage” in the province that accounted for 75% of the growth in Canada’s renewable energy sector last year, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) warned in a release. The association is meeting with provincial politicians and regulators “with the aim of minimizing the duration of the moratorium and creating clarity on its consequences,” the release added. Other groups were sharper in their criticism “According to the Alberta Premier, massive tailings spillsthat endanger Indigenous communities don’t constitute an emergency—but the potential for expanding cost-effective and proven climate solutions at a time when Canada is burning somehow poses a threat,” added Climate Action Network-Canada Executive Director Caroline Brouillette. "Other Conservative premiers have recognized the vast opportunities and economic benefits of affordable renewable energy, and so have Alberta communities,” Brouillette said in an email. But Premier Danielle Smith “seems more interested in pursuing her own ideology than lowering energy costs for Albertans, no matter the lost job opportunities and the damage to investor confidence.” Binnu Jeyakumar, electricity director at the Calgary-based Pembina Institute, said the moratorium would put 91 projects worth C$25 billion at risk, during a summer when wildfires and smoke have made “the growing costs of climate change all too real for Albertans and Canadians.” The moratorium “creates uncertainty around future investments while adding unnecessary red tape to these projects,” Jeyakumar said in a release. “While other provinces with Conservative governments like Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario have created calls for new renewable investments, adding wind and solar to their grids to lower the costs of electricity for consumers, Alberta appears to be heading in the opposite direction.”            https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/08/03/alberta-slaps-6-month-moratorium-on-solar-and-wind-puts-booming-industry-at-risk/?utm_source=The+Energy+Mix&utm_campaign=881f537c61-TEM_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dc146fb5ca-881f537c61-509990701

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