BANFF — Do the maths.That was the message Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivered to the second annual Global Energy Summit in Banff on Monday when it comes to environment and energy policy.In a keynote address, she said emissions reduction is an engineering solution, not a political football. And Alberta is poised to become a world leader in providing practical, science driven solutions to solving the technical challenges of the energy transition.And while she was at it, she poked Ottawa for creating barriers to progress that work against its own stated goals of reducing emissions and instead punish innovation in the energy sector.“Producing more energy is only part of the challenge, of course, before us. We also need to change how we produce it, and not just because we hear the rhetoric of a tiny handful of activists who keep asking for more and more,” she said.“But because emissions have become a practical engineering challenge that must be solved. Alberta's producers understand this. Is it easy? No, is it achievable? I think yes, and we must stay the course. The world needs reliable energy supplies, not just to grow, but to keep on operating. And it needs to reduce emissions. Alberta can deliver on both counts.”.“Something had to give. The fact that the politicians didn't realize… if you go so far down the path of reducing emissions in an unrealistic time frame, at unrealistic costs, then you're going to end up with the backlash that we're seeing right now.”Premier Danielle Smith.Over the next two days delegates will hear how Alberta is poised to lead North America, and the globe, in providing practical, workable solutions that go over and above the federal government’s fixation on carbon taxation, including hydrogen, carbon capture and electricity reform.On that front, Smith complained politicians of all stripes have had a “singular focus” on emissions reduction at the expense of producing more, reliable — and affordable — sources of energy.She said it was easy for people to be in favour of punitive climate change policies so long as they were able to keep the lights on and affordably heat their homes.But the new global realities of the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East have upset that balance. Add in punitive carbon taxes that have quadrupled to $80 per tonne effective April 1, and even the staunchest supporters like British Columbia’s NDP government are starting to buckle.“Something had to give,” she said. “The fact that the politicians didn't realize… if you go so far down the path of reducing emissions in an unrealistic time frame, at unrealistic costs, then you're going to end up with the backlash that we're seeing right now.”.“Facts matter, and here's the fact that seems to be avoided on a regular basis by some of the policy makers in Canada: there is only one world.” Former BC premier Gordon Campbell.For his part, former BC premier Gordon Campbell — who is tasked with moderating the conference — acknowledged that even in his home province “science is at odds with with political reality.”And he suggested that Canadians of all political stripes are going to be confronted with making uncomfortable choices to balance energy security with overly ambitious climate policies.“Too often we have allowed the tyranny of the status quo to take over our thinking. Recognizing that change can be tough. It can be tough for us as individuals. It's certainly tough for institutions, and it's tough for governments, and the only way that we can generate the change that we want is to recognize some of the blinders that we all have,” he said in opening remarks.“How do we escape the ravages of wishful thinking? We just don't want wishful thinking. We have to look at the facts. Facts matter, and here's the fact that seems to be avoided on a regular basis by some of the policy makers in Canada: there is only one world.”
BANFF — Do the maths.That was the message Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivered to the second annual Global Energy Summit in Banff on Monday when it comes to environment and energy policy.In a keynote address, she said emissions reduction is an engineering solution, not a political football. And Alberta is poised to become a world leader in providing practical, science driven solutions to solving the technical challenges of the energy transition.And while she was at it, she poked Ottawa for creating barriers to progress that work against its own stated goals of reducing emissions and instead punish innovation in the energy sector.“Producing more energy is only part of the challenge, of course, before us. We also need to change how we produce it, and not just because we hear the rhetoric of a tiny handful of activists who keep asking for more and more,” she said.“But because emissions have become a practical engineering challenge that must be solved. Alberta's producers understand this. Is it easy? No, is it achievable? I think yes, and we must stay the course. The world needs reliable energy supplies, not just to grow, but to keep on operating. And it needs to reduce emissions. Alberta can deliver on both counts.”.“Something had to give. The fact that the politicians didn't realize… if you go so far down the path of reducing emissions in an unrealistic time frame, at unrealistic costs, then you're going to end up with the backlash that we're seeing right now.”Premier Danielle Smith.Over the next two days delegates will hear how Alberta is poised to lead North America, and the globe, in providing practical, workable solutions that go over and above the federal government’s fixation on carbon taxation, including hydrogen, carbon capture and electricity reform.On that front, Smith complained politicians of all stripes have had a “singular focus” on emissions reduction at the expense of producing more, reliable — and affordable — sources of energy.She said it was easy for people to be in favour of punitive climate change policies so long as they were able to keep the lights on and affordably heat their homes.But the new global realities of the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East have upset that balance. Add in punitive carbon taxes that have quadrupled to $80 per tonne effective April 1, and even the staunchest supporters like British Columbia’s NDP government are starting to buckle.“Something had to give,” she said. “The fact that the politicians didn't realize… if you go so far down the path of reducing emissions in an unrealistic time frame, at unrealistic costs, then you're going to end up with the backlash that we're seeing right now.”.“Facts matter, and here's the fact that seems to be avoided on a regular basis by some of the policy makers in Canada: there is only one world.” Former BC premier Gordon Campbell.For his part, former BC premier Gordon Campbell — who is tasked with moderating the conference — acknowledged that even in his home province “science is at odds with with political reality.”And he suggested that Canadians of all political stripes are going to be confronted with making uncomfortable choices to balance energy security with overly ambitious climate policies.“Too often we have allowed the tyranny of the status quo to take over our thinking. Recognizing that change can be tough. It can be tough for us as individuals. It's certainly tough for institutions, and it's tough for governments, and the only way that we can generate the change that we want is to recognize some of the blinders that we all have,” he said in opening remarks.“How do we escape the ravages of wishful thinking? We just don't want wishful thinking. We have to look at the facts. Facts matter, and here's the fact that seems to be avoided on a regular basis by some of the policy makers in Canada: there is only one world.”
