Corey Pierce

Oilsands development, logging, coalbed methane development and water consumption have all increased on Premier Ed Stelmach’s watch. Stelmach’s bleak environmental record, in light of today’s ecological realities, makes the possibility of continued Tory rule frightening for the eco-conscious.

Earlier this month, a Greenpeace representative attempted to present Stelmach with the Canadian Environmental Destroyer of the Year Award. A fitting title, considering the environmental policies and practices he's introduced.

Alberta is the largest producer of greenhouse gases in Canada due to the reckless, hasty development of the oilsands, which produce triple the environmental impacts of conventional crude oil projects. Despite this, Stelmach is intent on tripling production to 3.75 from 1.25 million barrels a day by 2016. The production will increase without any requirements to cap or reduce resulting emissions. In fact, carbon emissions will be allowed to increase over the next 12 years. It's not until 2050 that carbon emissions are required to be cut — a policy that flies in the face of global scientific consensus warning that if significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions are not made within the next 10 to 15 years, the resulting climate change impacts will be irreversible.

International pressures and scientific warnings have only added fuel to Stelmach's oilsands crusade. In his first foreign speech last month in the U.S., he cautioned that if California's low-carbon fuel standards were meant to penalize imports of oil originating from Alberta oilsands, we'd simply send our oil off to India and China. Activists and protesters jeered his message.

Meanwhile, Stelmach has disregarded local scientists' advice on dealing with the pesky mountain pine beetle. While scientists like Ralph Cartar, a University of Calgary entomologist, have advised that clearcutting potentially threatened forests is not an effective solution, Stelmach has approved just that — clearcutting throughout Kananaskis Country, an area not particularly vulnerable to the beetle, according to scientists like Cartar.

The list of environmental offences goes on. What is an Alberta tree-hugger to do come election day?

• Make the environment your top election issue — familiar, perennial issues like education, health care and taxes, while important, are well represented. Groups like the local chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) are urging Albertans to communicate the importance of the environment in this election. CPAWS has a downloadable, printable poster stating “My Vote is for the Environment.” Print the poster on 100 per cent post-consumer, recycled paper and put it on your door for neighbours and candidates to see. Put one in your office as well. Discuss the issue with friends. Go to candidate debates and pose a question related to the environment. Join the “My Vote is for the Environment in the 2008 Alberta Elections” Facebook group. E-mail the candidates in your riding and ask them about their environmental platform.

• Educate yourself about provincial environmental issues — The Conservation Voters of Alberta has made getting educated about provincial environmental issues painless. The group has outlined several environmental priorities (tar sands, health, water, land use, species at risk, nuclear energy and climate change), summarized party platforms as they relate to these priorities and rated each party accordingly. The Conservative Party and Wildrose Alliance scored dismally across the board, both coming in as overall losers. The NDP, Greens and Liberals fared much better, with the Liberals gaining an overall nod of approval as the party with the most potential to put forward a positive environmental action plan.

• Subvert the message — while the dominant political regime in Alberta has used doomsday rhetoric about economic collapse to dissuade change, other provinces are moving forward with success. The province of Quebec has been an economic trailblazer. The province became the first to apply a carbon tax as of October 1 last year. It will bring in an estimated $200 million annually from energy distributors to fund public transit and greenhouse gas emissions cuts. Quebec was also the first province in Canada to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides. This took full effect in 2006. Forward-thinking Quebecers were also the first to adopt California's tough auto emissions standards as part of a plan to reduce emissions by 14.6 megatonnes by 2012. The province has a history of collaborating with environmental groups and industry with the intent of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Between 1990 and 2003, Quebec's industrial sector has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by seven per cent while Quebec's gross provincial product has grown by 35 per cent.

Change is possible, given the motivation. The question is — are Albertans motivated to incite political change? We'll find out the answer this Monday, March 3 at the polls.