Reports on the future of coal mining submitted to Alberta government: energy minister

Alberta’s energy minister says she has received two reports that will determine the future of coal mining in the province’s Rocky Mountain foothills and eastern slopes.

Sonya Savage has issued a statement saying the independent coal policy committee has submitted both an engagement report and a final report, which makes recommendations to the government.

The Coal Policy Committee's reports have been received by the Minister of Energy. The government will review the findings and recommendations before the reports are released publicly.

See Minister @sonyasavage's statement: https://t.co/WbrrXlcUgc

— Alberta Energy and Minerals (@Alberta_Energy) December 29, 2021

“I thank the committee for their diligence and hard work engaging with Albertans and in developing their recommendations,” she said in a release. “I also want to thank all Albertans, Indigenous people, communities and organizations that participated in the process and provided their valuable input.”

She says the United Conservative government will take the necessary time to review the reports’ findings and recommendations before releasing them publicly.

The issue blew up in spring 2020 when the government announced it would remove rules that had protected the eastern slopes of the Rockies from open-pit coal mining since 1976.

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At least six companies snapped up large tracts of land, much of it previously untouched and all of it home to the province’s headwaters.

Public reaction was swift and angry, uniting urban nature-lovers, rural ranchers and country music stars, and Savage was forced to reinstate the protections and stop selling exploration leases.