Emissions-reduction plan another broken UCP promise

Lack of climate progress will haunt us in the future, Stephen Legault writes.

Albertans expect their political leaders to honour their policy commitments. As we prepare for what experts say will be a devastating forest fire season and the fourth year of a crippling drought, it's the right time to reflect on Alberta's commitments to fight climate change and its effect on our communities, economy and human health.

This month marks the first anniversary of the Alberta Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan. If the government's first year implementing this plan is any indication of its trustworthiness, we're in big trouble.

Nobody expected much from the plan, so it's hard to be disappointed. It had no emissions-reduction goals for 2030, and no interim benchmarks; merely a vague statement that by 2050 the province would meet the Paris Accord goal of net-zero.

Now, after a year with no progress toward the lacklustre objectives of the plan, it is obvious that what the Alberta government aimed to accomplish with the release of the emissions reduction document is offer false solutions to a very real and growing crisis.

Farmers, Indigenous communities and municipalities have been cautioned that the Stage 4 (of 5) drought could create chaos this summer. More than 50 water shortage advisories have been declared across the province. Many more will follow. Government ministers have been tripping over themselves to address the crisis without saying the word “climate change,” as if it were their nemesis from a wizard's spell and not a dire situation our province helped create — and must now face.

In 2023, Alberta experienced its worst fire season on record as upward of two million hectares of forests

(an area the size of Banff, Jasper and Yoho National Parks combined) burned across the province, and 38,000 people had to flee their homes, farms and businesses. The province spent at least $800 million to fight those fires, and the cost to individual Albertans and the insurance industry could top $3 billion.

In the middle of a troubling winter with little snow and warm temperatures, there were 54 fires still burning from last year. Come May, how many more will be ravaging the province? We can hope for the best, but we can't fight climate change with wishes and broken promises. We need action.

When the Alberta government introduces a plan to address climate change but does so in bad faith, with no intent to implement it, it's justifiable for Albertans to question the trustworthiness of their government.

The consequences could be dire if our provincial government continues to gaslight its citizens into believing it is doing something to address the climate catastrophe, but instead punish clean energy producers because the government favours the oil and gas industry.

The emissions we produce now will come back to haunt us decades into the future. Our children and grandchildren will pay the price for Alberta's lack of moral clarity.

Our economy demands concrete action to diversify and develop renewable energy. Our communities are suffering under the strain of droughts, floods and fires. The very air we breathe and the water we drink are being polluted by the toxins we burn in the absence of government regulation.

Alberta needs — no, deserves — common-sense resolutions, not false and misleading solutions and broken promises from its government.

When it comes to waiting for Premier Danielle Smith to take meaningful action, is anybody else still holding their breath?