Alberta ignoring advice it sought from citizens on Rocky Mountain coal policy, former committee member says – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – January 22, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A member of Alberta’s coal policy committee says the provincial government is ignoring the will of tens of thousands of Albertans as it develops new rules around mining and is instead leaning on industry to guide its hand.

Bill Trafford was appointed to the coal policy engagement committee when it was established by then-Energy Minister Sonya Savage in 2021. Mr. Trafford is also the president of the Livingstone Landowners Group and worked alongside the four other committee members to gather feedback from across the province to help in the development of a modern coal policy.

The committee spent months consulting with individual Albertans, Indigenous people, communities and organizations to inform its final report and a series of recommendations, which included articulating land-use guidance for coal exploration, reviewing Alberta’s coal-royalty regimes and assessing proposed new projects “with rigorous net benefit tests that include extensive public consultation.”

For the rest of this article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-alberta-ignoring-advice-it-sought-from-citizens-on-rocky-mountain-coal/