Shodan
08-15-2007, 05:38 PM
Alta.-Ottawa clash inevitable
Oil industry, environment debate coming to a head, Lougheed warns
Janice Tibbetts
CanWest News Service
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
CALGARY - Canada is facing a bitter constitutional clash over the environment and Alberta's oil industry that will threaten national unity and eventually end up in the Supreme Court of Canada, former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed warned Tuesday.
"The issue is there front and centre and coming to a head, in my view," Lougheed told a gathering of the Canadian Bar Association.
"In due course, soon in my view, the matter could evolve into a major constitutional battle."
One one side is the Canadian public, deeply worried about climate change, putting pressure on the federal government for strong environmental protection legislation that will lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
On the other side is the province of Alberta, which has constitutional power over its non-renewable resources, including the oilsands in Fort McMurray, which have been dubbed "Alberta's Runaway Train" because they are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse emissions in the country.
"It's a very major matter that threatens Canadian unity," said Lougheed, who seldom speaks out on public policy matters. While Ottawa, Alberta and the oil industry have historically clashed, Lougheed predicted that the bubbling battle "will be 10 times greater than in the past" because the public is more engaged than ever before.
"I've been worried about this confrontation growing and growing," said Lougheed. "It's just been boiling with me over the last few weeks."
He predicted that the federal government's proposed clean air legislation, which aims to curtail emissions but gives a three-year exemption to the oil industry, will die in the Commons amid a public outcry for stronger environmental protection.
"Public pressure will force the passage of strong environmental laws -- and soon," said Lougheed, who works at a Calgary law firm.
Now 79, the elder statesman who led the province from 1971-85 remains an Alberta icon. He already sounded an alarm last summer over the oilsands, calling for a slowdown as the industry seeks sustainable solutions to cap pollution and the strain on the water supply.
He said that production at the oilsands is expected to double over the next few years. Lougheed's concern was sparked by a helicopter ride over the oilsands in June 2006.
"When you actually see the magnitude of it by helicopter, it just gets you," he told reporters. "I was appalled by what was happening there."
Former Reform leader Preston Manning has also raised concern about rapid development of the oilsands.
In a speech to the bar association Monday, he predicted that the next political revolution in Alberta will occur when a party is able to harness "green conservatism" or "blue environmentalism."
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Oil industry, environment debate coming to a head, Lougheed warns
Janice Tibbetts
CanWest News Service
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
CALGARY - Canada is facing a bitter constitutional clash over the environment and Alberta's oil industry that will threaten national unity and eventually end up in the Supreme Court of Canada, former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed warned Tuesday.
"The issue is there front and centre and coming to a head, in my view," Lougheed told a gathering of the Canadian Bar Association.
"In due course, soon in my view, the matter could evolve into a major constitutional battle."
One one side is the Canadian public, deeply worried about climate change, putting pressure on the federal government for strong environmental protection legislation that will lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
On the other side is the province of Alberta, which has constitutional power over its non-renewable resources, including the oilsands in Fort McMurray, which have been dubbed "Alberta's Runaway Train" because they are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse emissions in the country.
"It's a very major matter that threatens Canadian unity," said Lougheed, who seldom speaks out on public policy matters. While Ottawa, Alberta and the oil industry have historically clashed, Lougheed predicted that the bubbling battle "will be 10 times greater than in the past" because the public is more engaged than ever before.
"I've been worried about this confrontation growing and growing," said Lougheed. "It's just been boiling with me over the last few weeks."
He predicted that the federal government's proposed clean air legislation, which aims to curtail emissions but gives a three-year exemption to the oil industry, will die in the Commons amid a public outcry for stronger environmental protection.
"Public pressure will force the passage of strong environmental laws -- and soon," said Lougheed, who works at a Calgary law firm.
Now 79, the elder statesman who led the province from 1971-85 remains an Alberta icon. He already sounded an alarm last summer over the oilsands, calling for a slowdown as the industry seeks sustainable solutions to cap pollution and the strain on the water supply.
He said that production at the oilsands is expected to double over the next few years. Lougheed's concern was sparked by a helicopter ride over the oilsands in June 2006.
"When you actually see the magnitude of it by helicopter, it just gets you," he told reporters. "I was appalled by what was happening there."
Former Reform leader Preston Manning has also raised concern about rapid development of the oilsands.
In a speech to the bar association Monday, he predicted that the next political revolution in Alberta will occur when a party is able to harness "green conservatism" or "blue environmentalism."
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
