Following aggressive lobbying by an Australian coal mining tycoon, the Danielle Smith government is moving to pursue metallurgical coal extraction in the eastern reaches of the Rocky Mountains, even though nearly 80% of Albertans say they oppose all coal mining in the region.
Commissioned by ranchers and other landowners in the region, the survey found that only 23% of Albertans support coal exploration for mining the iconic mountains, and 27% believe the economic impacts outweigh the environmental risks, reports Global News. Conducted last month, the survey of some 1,000 Albertans also found that 77% of respondents were worried about local watersheds being contaminated by selenium, a highly toxic pollutant associated with coal mining.
The poll results come three weeks after the Alberta government lifted a moratorium on coal mining on the Rockies’ eastern slopes. The province cited the need to protect taxpayers from lawsuits filed by five coal companies, which argue that the province’s shifting coal policies have cost them $15 billion in revenues and sunk investments.
Calgary-based Cabin Ridge is one of the companies seeking damages, having bet big on coal prospects in May 2020 when the Jason Kenney government rescinded a decades-old moratorium on coal mining in the region. Cabin’s open-pit metallurgical mine project in the Porcupine Hills was halted when Kenney reinstated the moratorium two years later, after intense public pressure to do so.
Cabin and three other companies are seeking a collective $13.8-billion in damages, with the court case set to begin April 28, writes the Globe and Mail.
The fifth litigant is Northback Holdings, formerly Riversdale Resources, owned by Australian coal billionaire Gina Rinehart, a climate denier who has praised Donald Trump for his efforts to remove government red tape and regulation to encourage investment.
In Alberta, Rinehart is seeking more than $2 billion in damages after a panel of provincial and federal regulators rejected her open-pit metallurgical coal mine project on Grassy Mountain, north of the municipality of Crowsnest Pass, in 2021. In its 680-page report, the panel expressed concerns about risks to local watersheds, saying it had little confidence in the selenium containment measures the mining company had proposed.
Rinehart spent the next four years taking Alberta and Ottawa to court, The Tyee writes. She also made her company’s presence strongly felt in the leadup to a non-binding referendum on Grassy Mountain last November, where Crowsnest Pass residents voted in favour of bringing coal back, with more than 70% of voters saying they’d support a nearby project.
A decision on the controversial project is expected in June, Global says. Earlier this week, fifth-generation rancher Reata Schlosser joined about 100 other ranchers, environmentalists and concerned Albertans to protest Rocky Mountain coal mining outside the Calgary offices of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).
“It’s the most valuable resource in the entire world—we know there is a shortage of it in the world, and lucky to have the fresh water that we have in our country,” she said. “And to be ignorant enough to just be willing to sacrifice that, I think, is very shortsighted.”
Coal Courts Crowsnest Pass
It’s been over 40 years since coal was last mined in Crowsnest Pass, and the region has struggled to diversify its economy.
“There were a lot of opportunities then and there are none for our kids now,” long-term resident Tony Vastenhout, 70, told Global News after the referendum.
Two years earlier, while running for the leadership of the United Conservative Party of Alberta, Smith had told her supporters in the municipality that if there were a strong referendum result in support of the project, she would be more inclined to push it forward, writes the Tyee.
Grassy Mountain isn’t in Crowsnest Pass, but rather in the district of Ranchland, whose residents are united against the project. Still, Northback launched a two-year lobbying campaign in Crowsnest Pass that included a $75,000 donation to establish a Northback Breakfast Program in local schools.
After the municipality voted yes to Grassy Mountain, its city council is exploring the possibility of annexing Ranchland, reports CBC News.
“Premier Smith requested a local referendum and voters have given a clear message,” said Northback CEO Mike Young, responding to the referendum outcome.
“Democracy had its day,” Alberta Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean said of the vote.
Less than 10 days later, just before Christmas, the minister voiced support for the Grassy Mountain project as part of a broader message announcing the creation of the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative (CIMI), aimed at writing a new coal policy “centred around protecting water.”
Anger Brewing Amid Policy Uncertainty
While the details of the CIMI are still being worked out, Alberta said mountaintop removal and new open pit mines will not be allowed anywhere in the province. But the policy, which will be developed in consultation with the coal industry, is not cut-and-dried, Katie Morrison, executive director of the Southern Alberta chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), told the Tyee.
As a project that will involve “reclaiming” an old open pit mine while expanding its footprint, Grassy Mountain is in a separate class, and now awaits a ruling from the AER, newly-headed by oil executive Rob Morgan.
Asked by the Globe and Mail’s Emma Graney to clarify [video, 22:20] the CIMI’s position on old versus new open pit mines, Jean said the province must honour “certain contractual relationships” while maintaining environmental protections.
What happens next isn’t clear, but rancher Reni Blades said the community stands in opposition to lifting the coal ban.
“We’ve been here [in the Porcupine Hills] for over 120 years, Blades said [video]. “The coal mines just got here, so, we’re going to outlast them.”
“They’re not going to wear us down, they’re starting to piss us off,” added the rancher and grandmother.
