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Climate Change

Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earth Day is a good day to set the record straight on Alberta’s climate change strategy. The Minister of Environment has repeatedly claimed that Alberta is first on climate change, but according to the latest Environment Canada report, Alberta is world leader only in the production of greenhouse gases, not in their reduction, and we’re dead last in air quality. To the Minister of Environment: will the minister reverse the government’s present tepid commitment to wind power and its energy potential by working on the transmission line bottleneck in southern Alberta?

Mr. Renner: Well, Mr. Speaker, the issue of gridlock, so to speak, is the responsibility of the Minister of Energy, but I can tell this member that this government is committed to deal with the issue of access to the electrical grid. In fact, there are hearings taking place as we speak to deal with that exact issue. The wind is in southern Alberta. The demand is in central and northern Alberta. We need to be able to connect the two.

Ms Blakeman: I’m glad he agrees with me.

Back to the same minister: given that most of the 21 states and three provinces that have adopted absolute caps have put those targets into legislation, can the minister verify his statement from Monday that “as of today Alberta is the only jurisdiction in North America” that has any regulations on climate change?

Mr. Renner: Well, Mr. Speaker, there are no other jurisdictions in North America that have in place and in operation legislated reductions on a facility-wide basis with respect to CO2. I stand by my comments that I made earlier this week. They are true. I defy this member to prove me wrong.

Ms Blakeman: Happy to.

Next question back to the same minister: Harris from Calgary wants to know when Albertans can expect targets for renewable energy productions that are backed up by a long-term plan emphasizing energy efficiency – wind, solar, and geothermal – and reducing our reliance on coal-fired energy projection. That would be environmental protection.

Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, there are so many people that get wrapped up in this cloak of targets and aspirational legislation, but the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t matter what your targets are if you don’t have a road map to get there. We have a map to get there. We are moving the envelope along. The fact is that there are all kinds of targets all over the world. No one is meeting their targets except Alberta.