Environmental group calls for responsible development across energy sector

Phillip Meintzer of the Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about restrictions on the province’s renewable energy sector.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: Your group has written to the government, you're expressing concern over these additional restrictions. As a wilderness association, why wade into debate over renewable energy development?

Phillip Meintzer: I think it's important for people to recognize that development needs to be responsible, regardless of the industry. So whether it's renewable energy, whether it's the oil and gas industry, whether it's urban sprawl or building roads, all of that has to be done in a way that respects the environment and limits our impact to biodiversity and the ecosystems that we rely on.

MH: Where renewables are concerned, how do you assess the potential impact of the government's agriculture first approach?

PM: My colleague actually produced a report recently for us that looked at the impact of potential restrictions on renewable energy development in the province, and the restrictions being put in place are not necessarily grounded in science or evidence. They're going to have little effect on protecting the environment or even agricultural lands unless the restrictions are actually applied across all sectors.

So again, just limiting renewables isn't going to make much of a dent to protecting biodiversity as it would if we were putting similar restrictions on all industries, urban expansion, oil and gas, that sort of thing,

MH: Protecting grasslands, parks, what the government calls viewscapes, I have to think that's what your organization would want to see happen environmentally.

PM: As long as things are done science-based or evidence-based. Again, the recent restrictions don't seem to be grounded in science, and they aren't necessarily protecting areas that are always high biodiversity.

As you mentioned, there is this issue of pristine viewscapes, and how that's going to be defined. A lot of these restrictions are really going to impact how we can build out a renewable energy industry in this province. We mapped potential restrictions that could cover as much as 39 per cent of the province, so that's a lot of land that would be off limits to renewables in the sunniest region of the province, where it makes the most sense to build this.

We've consistently advocated for applying restrictions fairly across all industries. Whereas this seems very targeted at renewables, which is a main competitor to oil and gas.

MH: How warranted is further protection of native prairie, regardless of whether it's renewables or oil and gas?

PM: We have tons of native ecosystems across the province that are deserving of protection. The prairies are underrepresented in our protected areas. We have a lot up north in the Rockies, but significantly less than the prairies.

So, we'd like to see expansions for native grasslands that protect them, that's why we wade into the discussion around renewables. We do need to see a transition to renewables, we need to reduce emissions from the amount of gas industry, but we need to do so responsibly.

MH: How different an application is this for renewables compared to the policy around oil and gas if you were to weigh the two and how they're applied?

PM: Environmental groups, not just AWA, have been advocating for restrictions and protections related to oil and gas development.

If we look at the recent moratorium and then the announcement afterwards with the first wave of restrictions, the government was saying that part of the reason for all of this is making sure that we have money to cover end of life for renewables. So if a solar panel or a wind turbine reaches the end of its life, what do we do there?

But environmental groups have been asking for the same thing for the oil and gas industry for ages. We have programs that don't actually collect enough money, we call it securities up front, to pay for the cleanup and reclamation of oil and gas, both conventional so wells and pipelines, as well as in the oil sands.

It seems like a contradictory approach to apply these to renewables, which have a smaller footprint, are less destructive, but not to do the same for the oil and gas industry, which is taking up large pieces of our landscape across the province.

MH: The provincial government is holding a summit in Calgary today, seeking input on development of a made in Alberta strategy to maintain, conserve, sustainably manage the natural environment. AWA is participating today. What message did your association take to that summit?

PM: We were pleased to be included in the conversation because oftentimes we get left out. If we talk about these renewable restrictions, we were left out of previous engagements to provide input on behalf of the environment.

But for this nature summit that's being hosted today, my colleague is there asking for more protected areas. Those protected areas have to be representative across the province. We have all these different natural regions, we should try to protect as much of each of them as possible, and not just focus all in one area like the Rockies or up north.

We'd like to see initiatives that foster Indigenous-led conservation. Indigenous Protected Areas giving Indigenous peoples more say or sovereignty over the lands that they've occupied for millennia. Giving them some sort of stake in this is really important in how this rolls out. It's being done to meet Canada's commitment to the coming Montreal biodiversity framework.

We have a lot of land and waters to protect in a very short amount of time, and we have to do so in an equitable way.