Ralph Klein Lies to Albertans

Alberta: a province sustained no longer by agriculture, but by non-renewable resources.

Last night, during his television address, this is what Premier Ralph Klein had to say about Alberta's energy sector:

"Clean coal has a big role to play in Alberta's energy future. The coal beneath our feet contains twice the energy of Alberta's conventional crude, natural gas and bitumen combined," Klein said. "To make the most of this massive resource, we'll need to use the same Alberta ingenuity that turned the oil sands into a source of long-term prosperity. We already use clean coal to meet more than half of our electricity needs. But we can do so much more."

There is no clean coal being used to generate energy at any Albertan plant. He was right when he said future prospects, but that is as far as the truth goes. Now, there are three possible reason why he would make such a blatantly false statement:

1. He is way out of touch.I would agree with this statement if not for the army of speech writers that were behind this address.

2. He truly believes that Alberta's economy is sustainable.

3. He is purposefully trying to mislead the public to believe that the government is working hard at finding and implementing new sources of energy.

Klein is obviously attempting to capitalize on the "good feeling" that has passed over the people of Alberta due to the temporary economic wealth that they find themselves immersed in. Yet to blatantly lie begs the question of what the Alberta government is really attempting to accomplish with this speech.One possibility is that they are attempting to counter the ever-increasing concern over the environment and global warming.

Alberta is not a clean province. Sure, there are the big blue skies, and miles of farmland, but it is by far anywhere close to operating any sort of environmentally friendly industries. Investment after investment, whether it be in the oil sands, or towards prosperity is still following the rules of the old days...build it and they will come. The shallow attempt to make people believe that they care about the environment as much as they care about their pocket books is not only misleading, but dishonest.

He was also very presumptuous in his statement that:

"In the future I see for Alberta, no one will need to worry about where they'll live, or who will look after them in their golden years."

What I got from this statement is that when the markets crash, we won't have a safety plan and we will have to look after ourselves, for there will be no one there to help us out. Okay, maybe that is slightly pessimistic, yet it is just as likely that will happen as having Klein's utopian vision of never-ending wealth and prosperity. At least considering our reliance on oil and the energy sector.

Even the advances in technology such as that proposed of clean coal, although better than traditional extraction and burning methods, is still lacking. More over, it still relies on a resource that is non-renewable. We are going to deplet the world of these amazing resources instead of focusing on further renewable energy. Wouldn't it be nice to save our kids just a bit of these non-renewable materials.

Energy consumption is the big problem here, but it is a problem that is not going to end anytime soon, so we sure as heck need an alternative solution. Alberta has abandoned all other industry in the face of high energy demand and prices, including that of agriculture. The provincial government refuses to take its head out of the sand and REALLY think about what the future holds...not 20 years from now, but one hundred years from now.

Furthermore, I have yet to find any articles that articulate the impending war over non-renewable resources. Yes, I mean armed conflict. At this very moment there are three countries vying for Alberta "abundance" of resources: India, China and the United States. We all know what the United States government is capable of, and with ever increasing consumption of energy throughout North America, but particularly in the United States, it is irresponsible to not try and nip this issue in the bud, before catastrophe is imminent.

Two days ago, the government sealed the time capsule that is not to be opened until 2105. I con't help but wonder after hearing Klein's address how much they are trying to reshape history by including false information to our future. I am sure it will encourage placing the blame somewhere else when things fall apart.

After the last energy boom and bust in Alberta, we said we would learn from our mistakes. It seems to me that we are repeating the cycle of destruction. As they say, history tends to repeat itself.

For more information on Clean Coal Energy here are just a few sites to refer to:

1. IEACCC - International Energy Agency Clean Coal Centre
2. DOE- U.S. Department of Energy
3. Council on Foreign Relations
4. BBC Science and Nature