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Kevin Van Tighem joins the Daveberta Podcast to discuss one of the biggest issues in Alberta politics today – the expansion of open-pit coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Kevin explains how the 1976 Coal Policy protected larges swaths of the Rocky Mountains from open-pit coal mining and the impact these large scale industrial projects would have on local wildlife habitat, local economies, and the water that millions of Albertans depend on.
We discuss the influence of mining companies over the Alberta government, the reasons why Energy Minister Sonya Savage rescinded the policy last spring, and what kind of improvements could be included in a new coal policy.
Kevin Van Tighem is a conservationist, former Superintendent of Banff National Park, and author whose books include Our Place: Changing the Nature of Alberta. You can read his columns in AlbertaViews Magazine.
The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart.
The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network: Locally grown. Community supported. The Alberta Podcast Network includes dozens of great made-in-Alberta podcasts.
You can listen and subscribe to the Daveberta Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online. We love feedback from our listeners, so let us know what you think of this episode and leave a review where you download.
Recommended Reading
- Who opposes Kenney’s decision to allow open-pit coal mining in Alberta’s Rockies? Basically everybody. (Daveberta.ca, Feb. 5, 2021)
- The Truth, the Coal Truth, and nothing but the Truth (Daveberta.ca, Feb. 2, 2021)
- Bringing Coal Back (CBC Interactive Feature, July 7, 2020)
- Alberta is planning new mountaintop-removal coal mines. Here’s what that looks like (The Narwhal, Dec. 20, 2020)
- Alberta’s ‘back door’ plan to free up billions of litres of water for coal mines raises alarm (The Narwhal, Feb. 1, 2021)
- Months Before Albertans Were Told, Australian Miners Knew Plans to Axe Coal Policy (TheTyee, Jan. 29, 2021)
- ‘It’s sickening’: Future generation worried about inheriting legacy of coal mining (Global News, Feb. 4, 2021)
- Changes to Alberta coal policy coming next week after province-wide outrage (Global News, Feb. 5, 2021)
- Alberta faces backlash after move to scrap coal policy, ease restrictions on mining (Globe & Mail, Jan. 24, 2021)
- ‘Morally and ethically wrong:’ Court to hear challenge to Alberta coal policy removal (CBC, Jan. 17, 2021)
- Alberta defends decision to allow for open-pit coal mining in Rocky Mountains (CBC, Jan. 19, 2021)
