Fossil fuels deserve a special day showcasing how great they are at keeping Albertans warm and prosperous, a UCP member suggested Tuesday in the legislature.
Calling it “no secret” that fossil fuels are economically important, Garth Rowswell floated the concept of an appreciation day for the carbon-dense drivers of modernity.
“For generations these resources have been a pillar of our province’s prosperity, supporting families, communities and industries across Alberta,” said Rowswell, the member for Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.
The special day would be “a thoughtful way to acknowledge the tremendous impact” of fossil fuels on provincial growth and development, he said.
It would also “highlight the countless workers whose dedication and expertise have kept essential systems running efficiently and safely. Their hard work keeps our hospitals supplied with power, keeps our homes warm through the cold winters and ensures that industries across Alberta continue to thrive.”
In the budget tabled Feb. 26 in the legislature, non-renewables are estimated to generate — not including consumer taxes — $13.2 billion of $74.6 billion in total revenue, mostly from royalty payments.
The budget contribution in 2025-26 was forecast to hit $16.3 billion by April 1, although that was calculated before war in the Middle East dramatically drove up oil prices.
Current Complications
Rowswell’s comments come amid a provincial-federal push to build pipeline capacity in Alberta, as the country aims to develop more markets in the era of Donald Trump and a shifting global economy.
Meanwhile, the international community is in gridlock after decades of pushing for emissions reductions to address climate change. The last climate change conference, COP30 in Brazil, failed to arrive at a plan to phase out the use of coal, oil and gas, largely because of resistance from producer nations.
Two years earlier, COP28 called for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“To those who opposed a clear reference to a phase out of fossil fuels in the COP28 text, I want to say that a fossil fuel phase out is inevitable whether they like it or not,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the time.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come too late,” his statement said. “The era of fossil fuels must end — and it must end with justice and equity.”
Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding with the federal government, Alberta’s contribution to fighting climate change is supposed to be clarified by April 1. That agreement, if it happens, will end an impasse over the per-tonne carbon pricing that large emitters pay.
The MOU says that Canada and Alberta “remain committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
Alberta’s Fossil Fuel Foundations
It’s all part of the latest era in the province’s lifelong relationship with coal, oil and gas.
In the part of Canada that would become Alberta, commercial coal operations date from the early 1870s. The oil industry began in earnest after a strike in Turner Valley in 1914.
Medicine Hat, the place Rudyard Kipling famously said has “all hell for a basement,” was a source of cheap power in the early 1900s after the discovery of natural gas.
Alberta figured out in the late 1970s how to economically get oil from bitumen in its vast oilsands, and soon after the province established itself as a major world player.
Much of the world’s infrastructure, technology and economic strength is “built and sustained by the reliable energy” fossil fuels provide, Rowswell said.
An appreciation day would “allow Albertans to honour the past, acknowledge the present and thoughtfully plan for the future of energy in our province,” he said.
By George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Mar 12, 2026 at 09:45
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