Alberta’s government recently introduced new regulations aimed at renewable energy development, including restrictions on wind and solar projects in areas with “pristine viewscapes” and crucial farmland. This has led to a decline in new investments, despite the province’s strong potential for wind and solar energy. Meanwhile, the government is preparing to open up southern Alberta’s eastern slopes to coal mining by Australian billionaires, despite strong opposition from local communities.
On January 15, Energy Minister Brian Jean announced that Alberta would revoke three ministerial orders related to coal, including a moratorium on mining and exploration in the eastern slopes. These proposed open-pit metallurgical coal mines not only threaten Alberta’s scenic landscapes and vital agricultural lands, but they also pose serious environmental risks. These include water contamination, toxic coal dust, landscape destruction, and harmful selenium pollution, according to The Tyee.
While it’s understandable that a government might support an industry that has historically contributed to economic prosperity, the climate consequences of burning fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal are undeniable. Metallurgical coal, though used in steelmaking, remains a significant carbon-emitting fuel. Given the growing opportunities in the clean energy sector, wiser leadership would shift focus toward sustainable, profitable alternatives.
Alberta’s current stance seems to favor wealthy resource companies, including those owned by billionaires like Gina Rinehart of Australia, who has strong political ties and inherited much of her wealth. Rinehart’s companies, along with figures like Rich Kruger, CEO of Suncor, who earned $36.8 million in 2023, continue to push for fossil fuel development regardless of the environmental or health consequences.
The Alberta government’s support for coal could be driven by mismanagement or the influence of foreign interests, as a broad coalition of ranchers, musicians, environmentalists, and Indigenous groups has strongly opposed the eastern slopes’ development. Former Premier Jason Kenney opened the province to coal mining in 2020 but reversed course in 2022 after public pressure, reinstating the moratorium that had been in place since 1976. However, four coal companies are now suing the government for $13.8 billion.
Gina Rinehart has also filed lawsuits against the Alberta government for rejecting her Grassy Mountain project in 2021 and for the coal ban, seeking over $2 billion in damages. Rinehart, Australia’s wealthiest individual, has also donated extensively to climate science-denial organizations, further complicating the debate.
Billionaires like Rinehart seem to accumulate wealth without regard for its broader impact. The wealth of the top 1% now exceeds that of the bottom 95% of the global population, with Oxfam reporting that billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024—three times faster than the previous year. Much of this wealth is built at the expense of the environment, Indigenous communities, and future generations.
Alberta’s government appears to have embraced a “government for the billionaires” approach, reminiscent of the MAGA ideology. This mindset prioritizes short-term economic gain over long-term sustainability, benefiting the wealthy few at the expense of the broader public.
It’s time to reclaim power from billionaires and oligarchs. The Rocky Mountains are far more valuable to Alberta’s residents, visitors, and the world than they are to foreign billionaires seeking to profit from their destruction.
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