SUZUKI SAYS PREMIER UNFIT TO LEAD ALBERTA
03.30.07 - Leído 78 veces. Enviar esta notaJamie Komarnicki & Jason Fekete
Stelmach told to put green plans ahead of ‘crazy’ oilsands growth
CALGARY, Cadana; March 30, 2007.- One of Canada’s top climate change crusaders blasted Ed Stelmach on Friday, saying the Alberta premier’s reluctance to curb greenhouse gas emissions makes him unworthy of leading the petro-powered province.
During a trip to Calgary, David Suzuki said Alberta needs to put the brakes on unlimited oilsands development until industry finds a more efficient way of extracting the fossil fuel.
There are more than $100 billion worth of oilsands projects on the books for northern Alberta, but concerns are mounting about greenhouse gas emissions tied to its rapid development.
“If your premier thinks he’s worried about the future — and he doesn’t realize not doing anything about greenhouse gases is going to wreck the economy — then he doesn’t deserve to be a leader,” Suzuki said. He was responding to Stelmach’s comments Thursday that Alberta’s economic growth won’t be sacrificed to meet environmental targets of the Kyoto accord.
Speaking to a business crowd on Thursday, the premier said he understands protecting the environment is a responsibility, but added: “It’s clear that green politics are as much about emotion as they are about science.”
Climate change has moved to the fore of political debate in Canada recently, with the federal government in overdrive to remake its image as a champion of the environment.
Alberta, with its booming economy and expanding energy sector, accounts for about 40 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The Stelmach government has promised to introduce regulations this year that will limit the amount industry emits per barrel of oil produced, but Alberta has resisted cuts to total emission levels.
But Suzuki, visiting Calgary as part of his “If you were prime minister” tour, called on Alberta to ease up on oil and gas growth.
“Look, you think you need the tarsands to go gung-ho. Albertans have always had the highest standard of living of any province in the country. What the hell do you need all this unlimited expansion, for God’s sake? That’s crazy,” Suzuki told reporters Friday.
“We haven’t even begun to apply the brain power to exploit the tarsands the proper way.”
With a farming background, the premier said recently he knows the value of clean air and water. “Ed Stelmach was green long before it became fashionable,” he said at the time.
Stelmach wasn’t available for comment Friday, but his spokesman said the oilsands are critical to the Alberta and Canadian economies, and that provincial environmental policy will reflect that.
“What the government is trying to do is have responsible greenhouse gas emissions intensity reductions in a way that helps protect the environment and also safeguards the economy,” said Tom Olsen from the premier’s office.
“It’s a big issue to Albertans and to Canadians, so we’re going to do it in a balanced way.”
A dust-up between Stelmach and Suzuki over Alberta’s booming energy industry is merely a harbinger of the province’s — and nation’s — environmental battles to come, say political analysts.
(Calgary Herald)
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