Oh hey the Alberta government is having an townhall about the drought. I don't remember seeing any notification of this at all, but anyway Minister Schulz is up now. "I don't think Alberta will receive enough precipitation to prevent a severe drought," she says #ableg The town hall about Alberta's drought is here... ag, environment and municipal affairs ministers all on the call and there is lots of time for Qs. #ableg #cdnpolivideo.teleforumonline.com/video/streamin…

Oil sands companies in the Pathways Alliance have awarded a $10m contract to Wood, a global engineering company, to develop detailed plans for a 400km CO2 pipeline that will eventually link >20 oil sands facilities with a storage hub near Cold Lake #cdnecon #oott #ableg Wood’s work will focus on the main transportation line linking 14 oil sands facilities to the storage hub (think pipe size, materials, monitoring station design, route). It’ll also help inform overall capital and operations cost estimates #cdnecon #oott #ableg

Huh. Thomas Dang has stepped down from NDP caucus. RCMP searched his home lately #ableg Notley is talking now. Something about the covid19 records page. She says Dang visited the page and notified AHS about his concerns regarding privacy on that website. She says they have a longstanding policy that caucus members under police investigation can't be in caucus #ableg

I spoke to groups who got notices from the anti-oil Alberta Inquiry into foreign funding. If they do reply, commissioner Steve Allan reckons 14 days is enough time to consider 1,200 pages of responses he could get b4 the report's due /1 #ableg #cdnpoli theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… Also, remember how Kenney repeatedly referenced the Pembina Institute when he promised this inquiry during the election? Pembina got less $$ from international grants than from O&G companies that contracted the think tank to help find environmental solutions. /2 #ableg #cdnpoli

Alberta gets another credit downgrade. S&P has lowered from A+ to A, citing large deficits averaging more than 25% of revenues during fiscal 2020-24. Says pandemic has "further worsened AB's budgetary
balances" which had not yet recovered from oil price slump /1 #ableg #cdnpoli S&P says Alberta's downgrade is "the culmination of the two powerful economic shocks that Alberta has endured in the past six years," adds the province entered the pandemic with "relative fiscal weakness" b/c of the prolonged oil slump that started in 2014 /2 #ableg #cdnpoli

Investment in new oil & gas developments must stop immediately if the world is to hit net-zero by 2050, the International Energy Agency says in a huge new report today. This will of course have significant implications for Canada. theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… #ableg #cdnpoli #cdnecon The IEA says hitting net-zero will mean pivoting the global economy from one powered by fossil fuels to one powered predominantly by renewable energy - and that will require "a total transformation of the energy systems that underpin” global economies. #cdnpoli #ableg #cdnecon

On a call now with Energy Minister Sonya Savage. The province is halting the exploration for coal for all Category 2 lands, as the committee consults on new coal policy. #ableg The ban on this will be from now until - at a minimum - after all consultations are complete, Savage says. They want to public engagement process to be engaged "in good faith," she says. More than 25,000 Albertans filled out that coal survey in just three weeks. #ableg

I’ll be getting up early for this summit... which starts at 6am MT. The world leaders will talk in alphabetical order, based on their country. Yes, I wanna see what Australia has to say. No, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… #cdnpoli Well now this isn’t the leaders talking in alphabetical order at the climate summit at all! So far we’ve had USA, China, India, now UK. It’s a true international journey (that I cannot physically go 😷☹️). I suppose I’ve been all these places already BUT STILL. #cdnpoli

SanLing is closing up shop April 30, weeks after the AER suspended thousands of its operating licences. Orphan Well Association has applied to court to have a receiver assume control of SanLing inventory. B/g on the original charges: theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… #ableg #cdnecon #oott Blair Reilly, AER enforcement director: “Our repeated attempts to bring SanLing into compliance have failed." Says it's "unfortunate" SanLing is ceasing operations, adds AER has "systems in place" for when companies can't meet responsibilities to clean up messes. #ableg #cdnecon

Exclusive: Alberta wants Ottawa to commit to $30b to spur construction of large-scale industrial carbon capture projects - key to blue hydrogen and helping lower emissions in the oil sector. By ⁦@KellyCryderman⁩ and me. #cdnpoli #ableg #cdnecon theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… Aside from ⬇️ emissions, Nat Resources Minister O’Regan told CERAWeek CCUS is key for jobs for workers moving from oil & gas. “We think that lowering emissions by having them work on CCUS projects is going to be really important.” #ableg #cdnpoli #cdnecon theglobeandmail.com/business/artic…

Australia a police state?!? Scott Moe tried a line like this today as well, to which I say HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA nah. Life is basically back to normal and everyone’s at restaurants and bars and hanging out with friends and family. #ableg #skpoli

https://twitter.com/junkeranna/status/1336841937827983360

In fact I just got off the phone with my 91-yr-old grandmother (in remission from breast cancer) and she had to go because he ride was there TO GO TO THE DAMN GROCERY STORE. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely terrible job they’ve done, so that my grandma can go out shopping 🙄 #ableg #skpoli

"So far, we are not bending the curve back down," says Dr. Hinshaw, and that's placing incredible pressure on healthcare workers. #ableg #covid19 "I am now concerned - more than ever before - about the spread of this virus," Dr Hinshaw says #ableg #covid19

There seems to be some discussion on the #ableg feed today around Aussie-style covid lockdowns. I don't have an opinion, but here are Facebook pics from friends in three states back home (nsw, qld, vic), all taken in the last month. It's *wild* how normal this is on my feed. Most are also planning family Christmas gatherings, a friend is sad b/c her daughters are off to an island for a week for a Brownie camp. Also this happened in my home city mid-November. Fun fact! I used to work at this stadium. theguardian.com/sport/2020/nov…

Having a bit of a cross-country tour today... from NL this morning where feds gave offshore O&G $320m back to AB this afternoon, where Minister Nixon is set to announce new methane emissions reduction programs funded by TIER (that's the carbon tax on large emitters). #ableg ... which also means I'm back listening to Vivaldi, the #ableg call-in hold music.

Minister O'Regan just announced $320m for the NL offshore oil sector... it'll go to maintenance and upgrades, R&D, environmental services and clean tech. That's in addition to the $75m for emissions reduction months ago. #cdnpoli #oilandgas #nlpoli O'Regan says his government has "unrelenting support" for the offshore sector. This will help workers and support jobs, he says #cdnpoli #oilandgas #nlpoli

Kenney responding to Throne Speech. He says the energy sector pulled Canada through the financial crisis and it was thanks to Alberta's "generous transfers" that the nation remained strong. "Yet Alberta was not recognized in yesterday's throne speech," he says #cdnpoli #ableg "It's not just about oil and gas," Kenney says, but all natural resource sectors, adds "go back to the drawing board on Bill c-69" (he likes to call the "no more pipelines law".) Also slams environmental reviews of 3 mines in AB. B/g: theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… #ableg #cdnpoli

Meanwhile, the #ableg government has struck a panel to "become a world leader in mineral resource production." Minerals include lithium, vanadium, uranium, rare earth elements for batteries and energy storage cells. Also? Apparently we have DIAMONDS. Anyhoo, the new #ableg panel comprises experts in geology, resource development, Indigenous relations, regulatory and environmental affairs, and investor and industry perspectives. They'll consult for input on an Alberta minerals strategy. Again. Diamonds.

#ableg announcement right now in conjunction with Capital Power, about a new TIER-funded program on carbon capture technologies (TIER is the carbon tax on large emitters, btw). #cdnpoli Also this started three minutes early colour me shocked! #ableg

Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbiax is speaking at Global Energy Show. Says "one of the great frustrations" about Canadian O&G is that ESG conversations only seem to be about GHG emissions. Investors don't ask about Indigenous or environmental policies, he says #ableg #cdnecon 1/ "They ask me about GHG intensity to the exclusion of everything else, and this is an opportunity for Canada to really distinguish ourselves as a leader in GHG, but we have to expand the conversation around simple carbon," Pourbaix says #ableg #cdnecon #oilandgas 2/

Kenney talking now about a parks jobs announcement, says diversification is more important than ever. #ableg He's at Fish Creek by the looks of it, btw. (I almost said *in* the creek, which LOL Emma, no, the premier is not, in fact, in a creek.) #ableg

Kenney announcing his cabinet shuffle today ahead of the fiscal update on Thursday which will "likely see the largest deterioration in the province's finances at least since the 1930s." #ableg #cdnpoli Oh there's a new ministry of jobs, economy and innovation, led by former justice minister Doug Schweitzer. It'll oversee the Alberta recovery plan. #ableg #cdnpoli