Prairie premiers need to get with renewable program

Moe, Kenney just don't know how to read the changing room, Peter Oldridge says.

In one day, we saw two great examples of the antiquated mentality of the Prairie premiers emerge and highlight the need for better leadership. Wednesday, with newly elected American President Joseph R. Biden signing an executive order to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney suggested trade sanctions be levied against the U.S. Simultaneously in Saskatchewan, Premier Scott Moe admonished and threatened the Regina city council for their attempt at limiting fossil fuel companies from advertising city-sponsored initiatives. Moe's specific threat? If city council isn't careful, perhaps money received from Saskenergy and Saskpower in municipal surcharges ($33.3 million) will no longer be provided, and boldly stated: “If these Regina city councillors have such a strong aversion to accepting money from energy companies, I assume they will no longer want to receive these funds, which could instead be distributed to other Saskatchewan municipalities.”

Gentlemen, read the room. Things are changing for the better, and I'm sad to say, they don't support all your oil executive donors and cronies. Many are learning the truth about our current addiction to fossil fuels and the associated human health and ecosystem impacts, despite significant efforts by the oil industry to convince us everything is cool.

I use the word addiction intentionally, and I ask that we reflect on it and its implications to us on a personal level. We are all oil addicts. Think about systems of agriculture and distribution, manufacturing and even the design of our cities. All currently rely heavily on fossil fuels. For the time being they are essential for life in the Prairies, and those who personally work within the energy sector support themselves and their families through their hard work in that industry. It is not reasonable to say we must stop consuming fossil fuels, full stop. In reality what is needed is a plan for transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward new ways of organizing and powering human enterprise, to create a more sustainable society (replete with jobs in a new energy industry). What is not helpful is further expansion of the fossil fuel industry through a massive investment in infrastructure (i.e. the Keystone pipeline). In short, yes we need oil, but we also need to transition away from it.

Returning to the addiction analogy, some of us are on the road to recovery, while some are fully in denial that there's even a problem, ignoring the credible scientists who warn

Earth is on the brink of catastrophe as a result of this addiction. It's unfortunate the leaders of Saskatchewan and Alberta remain firmly in denial of our deeply problematic addiction and are utterly unwilling to help us move toward solutions to improve the situation. Instead, they support policies that enable the dealer. The $1 billion of taxpayers' money that Jason Kenney pumped into the oilsands project is now gone. Truly unfortunate and a bad gamble on a doomed, economically dubious prospect. That money could have been used to assist in the transition toward green energy sources and created sustainable green energy jobs. Instead, it enriched a few of his friends and jobs for Albertans will not materialize.

All we can hope for now is that it serves as a wake-up call. Supporting the drug dealer is great in the short term: It comes with lots of money, power and prestige (of a certain flavour). But in the end you hurt people; the people you love and have vowed to protect.