Citizens need to express opposition to Grassy Mountain
By Lethbridge Herald on December 28, 2024.
Editor:
Grassy Mountain Here we go again! I read in the Lethbridge Herald (Dec. 21) that the provincial UCP government is developing a new coal policy.
Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta and chief Australian coal mining advocate, and the UCP government have come up with a new policy they hope will placate opponents of the proposed Grassy Mountain coal mine.
The new policy will ban open pit mining on the open eastern slopes of the Rockies but will not apply to “advanced projects” like Grassy Mountain.
How convenient and how hypocritical! Our premier’s henchman, Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals, professes to worry about the environment and protecting our river waters. He believes selenium can safely be kept out of the waters of Southern Alberta after using vast amounts of that water to wash Grassy Mountain coal in an area already in water deficit.
Definitely a case of putting a huge Australian company’s future profits ahead of the wishes of the large majority of southern Albertans opposed to the project.
So, why are Danielle Smith and Brian Jean so intent of moving this project forward which has been soundly cancelled in the past?
I can think of many reasons. Dubious at best, duplicitous at worst. Where does Nathan Neudorf, UCP member of the legislature for Lethbridge East, stand on this project?
We don’t know because he won’t say. At this point, I can only assume he is in favour. Is he afraid of Danielle Smith and losing his position as a minister in her government?
Is he too scared to tell his constituents he’s in favour of the project? We certainly know the NDP and MLA-elect for Lethbridge West, Rob Miyashiro, are strongly opposed. I encourage anyone against the Grassy Mountain project to write, text, email, or phone Danielle Smith, Nathan Neudorf, and Brian Jean to strongly express their opposition and decry the hypocrisy of the UCP’s new coal policy.
Robert King-Brown
Lethbridge
13-12
I just sent another, email of opposition to open pit coal mining to the Premier….myself, one of many millions in southern Alberta opposed to water-thirsty open pit coal mining and its potential damaging impact to our environment and waters….no matter what is said out of sides of mouths. We’re still in a drought here, and it is believed there’s enough water in the system to accommodate open pit coal mining? Mind-bogglingly unreal.
What are we going to do? Just sit back in a non-proactive manner and wait until the damage happens? The UCP are scared of $billion dollar lawsuits if so-called mine contracts are cancelled? What could be worse? That, or $billions lost in damages to irrigation agriculture, environmental damage, water contamination, human health, and compensation for damages? What will it be? Catering to the big, corporate mining friends or prioritizing the lives of millions of downstream southern Albertans.
As you would agree the UCP had no business in reopening this can of worms after Lougheed shut it down but that’s what Reformers do. They deliberately destroy what conservatives have created for the good of the people like the Carbon Tax Rebates and the CBC like Reformer Poilievre has promised to do and when you have ignorant seniors convincing their younger relatives to vote like they do you have a serious problem.
could the govt not put in place significant pollution control measures that might end up either keeping the water surely safe, or, create a costing factor too much for a company to mine? the idea being that the environmental measures are necessary and not to be deemed unreasonable, whilst making the venture too costly or unlikely to be able to be met, and therefore, not enough basis for any lawsuits by the dirty company.
Wouldn’t you like to know if any bribes have been offered? Wouldn’t you think Brian Jean being a former lawyer would be a lot smarter as to how dangerous this could be for the province?
About 50 years ago I told a lawyer that I thought most lawyers were nothing but trained liars. To my surprise he agreed and we became good friends. He said the ones who cannot make it as a lawyer become great politicians because they are such great liars. There are exceptions like Peter Lougheed who you could always trust.
We found we could trust Rachael Notley also and the former conservative MLAs certainly agreed that she was a lot like Lougheed.