A Word to Jen Gerson About Albertans
Alberta's real advantage is Albertans.
I submitted the following letter to the editor after reading Jen Gerson’s article “A Word to My Haters” in “The Line”.
Dear Ms. Gerson:
Please try to show some compassion to all those haters. I do not condone their
appalling language, but certainly I have empathy for them. It is a serious issue in Alberta with suicides, overdose deaths, broken families, bankruptcies and more. Perhaps you can rise above vitriol and show some compassion.
Some of the frustration you’re witnessing comes from the inability of many pundits to acknowledge that even though Albertans are being lectured on the demise of fossil fuels, OPEC’s 2020 World Oil Outlook states “In the medium-term, after recovering from the turbulent year of 2020, global oil demand is projected to continue growing at relatively high annual rates to reach a level of 103.7 mb/d by 2025. Annual increments will be relatively high, especially in 2022 and 2023, at 2.1 mb/d and 1.5 mb/d, respectively.” It seems Oil and Gas is OK if it does not come from Alberta.
To make matters worse, Ottawa limits Alberta’s ability to get our products to tidewater. Why is there a federal tanker ban on the BC’s north coast while tankers filled with offshore oil (from jurisdictions with no respect for human rights, and without Alberta’s environmental controls) navigate the St. Lawrence Seaway to unload in Montreal? That is particularly galling when you consider Alberta’s outsized contribution to Canada’s balance sheet. Details are here.
No doubt you caused your correspondents even more frustration by referencing a British newspaper regarding the coming dominance of electric cars. The population density of Great Britain is 275 people per square kilometer. Alberta’s population density is six people per square kilometer. Our vast distances make electric cars less sensible - especially at temperatures thirty degrees below zero. While we are on this subject, can you explain how running a car on fossil fuels is less environmentally sensitive than running a car on electricity made with fossil fuels?
Perhaps you can take the high ground and forgive Albertans if we prefer gas power plants to wind and solar power. Frankly, after reading about the recent Texas blackouts, I wish we had some coal fired power plants online too - diversity is our strength after all. Bonus: unlike wind power generation, solar power generation, and the CBC, fossil fuels do not require a subsidy from the taxpayer.
Your friends from Toronto and Vancouver should move to Alberta to enjoy our low real estate costs. But keep in mind that the great price on a house probably came at some other family’s expense. You know - the oil and gas worker who lost his job and had to disrupt his family and relocate for work. Your friends can live in his house, but I doubt they can fill his shoes.
Some background: Ms. Gerson published her piece in early 2021. Alberta had been suffering since the oil crash of 2016.
It’s interesting to re-read Ms. Gerson’s article, as well as her readers’ comments, three years later. Although her haters were wrong to indulge in vulgar, ad hominem attacks, they were right about many other things. My next post will explore Albertans’ perspicacity with regards to Ms. Gerson’s assertions.