Alberta has the country on tenterhooks as the province votes on whether to consider splitting from Canada. At least one separatist leader says the threat to leave is serving as leverage for the oil industry. Others in the province say investment in renewable energy is already taking a hit.
This week we’re asking how past fights over the oil sands got tangled up with separatism, what the referendum means for Alberta’s energy industry now, and what an independent Alberta would mean for the climate.
Guests:
Chris Severson-Baker, executive director of the Pembina Institute
Mitch Silvestre, CEO of the Alberta Prosperity Project
Firman Latimer, founder and CEO of First Nation Power Development
Jennifer Winter, professor and economist who studies climate policy at the University of Calgary, interim director of Canadian governance at the School of Public Policy.
Another What On Earth? episode you might like:
There's a lot on Carney's plate. Is our climate plan cooked?
Background reading:
Panelists make cases for and against Alberta separation
Separation making Alberta master of its destiny ‘a fiction,’ business leader says
Have you got something to say about this episode? Email us at earth@cbc.ca