The Alberta government will unveil a new coal policy next week intended to quell rising concern about a potential expansion of mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the energy minister says.
“I’m very, very aware of the concerns and the growing concerns and we will be addressing it,” Minister Sonya Savage said in a Thursday interview with Radio-Canada. “There was never any intention when the coal policy was rescinded to change any of the restrictions or any of the protections in the eastern slopes.”
Mountaintop mining will be a no-go, she said.
“The concept of blowing the tops off the mountains, that will not happen.”
The government is facing increasing blowback for deciding last spring, without consultation, to revoke a 1976 policy blocking open-pit coal mining on the peaks and eastern slopes of the Rockies.
Among the critics are environmentalists, country music stars and municipal councils of communities downstream, such as Canmore and High River, who worry about preserving the province’s iconic mountains and the potential for water pollution.
Source: New Alberta coal policy coming next week, energy minister says | CBC News