While the clunky, bureaucratic Mexican showdown that is Copenhagen unfolds on the other side of the planet many here are wondering why Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach stayed home? Alberta has been THE major emitter in Canada for many years now, and some have pointed out that if not for the oil rich province (whose tar barons hold the country hostage)we would’ve been able to meet our Kyoto targets in the first place. Of course, if not for that oil rich province our National and regional economies would also be in a far less competitive position. Which is yet another good reason for Stelmach to go. Environmentalism is slowly becoming about economics, and one of the driving forces of economics is technology. Regardless of whether or not we use oil and gas to fuel our vehicles Alberta will remain in a strong position because nearly everything else that we use in our daily lives comes from oil too. And while those plastics and materials slowly off-gas while we enjoy them they don’t carry the sheer volume of emissions that vehicles do, and don’t get me started on the effects off the tar sand operations on the water and biogeography of Alberta.

But many believe the Province is in a good position to become a greentech and cleantech leader. “Cleantech is the new gold rush for business,” says John Goetz, a Calgary lawyer who leads the climate-change and emissions-trading group at Fraser Milner Casgrain. This according to an interview in the Vancouver Sun, where Goetz cites the economic spin-off effects of cleantech activities. Several other services are supported by cleantech activities including legal and other services. And investment in greentech-cleantech has been growing, to the point where some were shocked into calling bubble alert.

There’s demand for these clean technologies. There are jobs to be created, messes to clean up, and international friends and allies who we shouldn’t let down. It’s time people started realizing that the environment and the economy are not on opposite ends of the spectrum, they are intimately entwined. Where they converge most noticeably is in the green industries that are offering solutions to the problems that politicians bicker about endlessly in talks. If we continue to invest in dirty technologies we’re investing in the past and present. By investing in cleantech we invest in the present and future- and it’s profitable. Venture capitalists figured that one out, let’s hope the Canadian government and Albertans can too.

Related posts:

1. BC a cleantech leader? After Alberta and China maybe
2. Vancouver represented at international competition of cleantech housing designs
3. Vancouver will be North America’s electric car leader

Tags: Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, cleantech, Copenhagen, Greentech, investment in greentech, John Goetz, some, tar barons, Venture capitalists

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