Conclusion

The Environmental Movement in Alberta

By Guest Column William Walter Kay——Bio and Archives--August 21, 2010

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William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com The Environmental Movement in Alberta Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Conclusion Missing from the above essay is a section on the media -- a topic too complex to be confined to several paragraphs. Only a tiny fraction of the media product consumed by Albertans is created by Alberta-based enterprises; most is imported from national and international enterprises. Environmentalism's unwarranted influence in the media is not a provincial tale. Additionally, while this essay was being written Alberta's two most influential newspapers, Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, both blatantly pro-environmentalist, came under new ownership. The new owners, Post Media, are uniquely critical of environmentalist claims and policies. Hence the environmentalism-in-Alberta's-media story is undergoing unpredictable change.

The environmental movement in Alberta is a conglomeration with a nucleus of philanthropic-funded ENGOs headquartered outside Alberta. Bonded to this nucleus are dozens of government agencies, corporate divisions, and university departments. Around them are the movement's "built constituencies": the green industries of alternative energy, organic foods, recycling, ecotourism, etc. Cumulatively, Alberta's ENGOs have a paid staff numbering in the hundreds and an annual budget in the $10s of millions. Cumulatively, the enviro-government agencies and movement-built constituencies in Alberta employ several thousand and have annual revenues in the high $100s of millions. This organizational field is not a conventional political party; however, it is political and cohesive. If the ENGOs alone were forged into a party it would be larger than all other Alberta parties combined. However, as elsewhere, the main movement strategy is not to become an official party so as to better pressure and infiltrate established parties.

All Alberta parties, including the long-governing Tories, embrace environmentalism

All Alberta parties, including the long-governing Tories, embrace environmentalism. The official opposition Liberal Party is deeply committed to green politics. The NDP tries to out-green them. Even the upstart Wildrose Alliance veered sharply toward "green conservatism". The uniform strategy is not to defend Albertan's industrialists from the environmentalists but to pose as judicious referees between these contestants. This strategy champions the throwing of billion-dollar hobbling chains, such as carbon-neutral electricity and waterless-oilsands production, onto Alberta's most promising enterprises. Complicity in underdevelopment betrays a colonial mentality. In Alberta, as elsewhere, environmentalism is not a new social movement but an old social movement adept at re-inventing itself in the public mind. Settlement in Alberta was actively discouraged by the British government through the Hudson's Bay Company from 1670 to 1870, after which time a faction within the federal government took up the Cause. Alberta struggled to become a province in 1905 and then wrested control over its natural resources in 1930. By the time this modicum of self-determination had been achieved, vast areas of land crucial to Alberta's optimal development had been roped off by Ottawa under the ruses of conservationism (Banff Park, 1885; Waterton Lakes Park, 1895; Blackfoot Forest Reserve, 1899; Jasper Park, 1907; Elk Island Park, 1913). Contemporary talk about enormous set-asides of land to "Save the Grizzly" or "Save the Woodland Caribou" may seem like over-reaching demands of a radical new social movement but an identical campaign was launched a century ago in Alberta to "Save the Wood Bison". That campaign culminated in the 1922 creation of the world's largest park, which, not coincidentally, amputated from Alberta the economically critical Athabasca Lake region. (The wood bison, which is not even a taxonomically identifiable sub-species, was bred in captivity then transported to the park.) Charting one piece of environmentalism yields sobering insights into the sophistication and size of the larger movement. Although Alberta is exceptional, including in its environmental issues, the environmental movement is no larger or more institutionalized in Alberta than in other provinces or countries. Per capita, the environmental movement is larger, wealthier, and more entrenched in British Columbia and Ontario than it is in Alberta. The movement is stronger in Europe than in North America. Alberta's population is 10% of Canada's. Canada's population is 10% of North America's. Europe is more populous than North America. Hence, Alberta's environmental movement comprises probably about 0.1% (one-thousandth) of the overall global movement.

Bibliography

Bunner, Paul (ed); Alberta in the 20th Century; History Book, Edmonton, 2002-3 Marsh, James (ed); The Canadian Encyclopedia; McClelland and Stewart; Toronto, 1999 Alberta Environment; Watershed Stewardship Directory; 2005

William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com William can be reached at: williamwkay@yahoo.ca

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Guest Column——Bio and Archives

Items of notes and interest from the web.

Conclusion

The Environmental Movement in Alberta

All Alberta parties, including the long-governing Tories, embrace environmentalism

Bibliography

Alberta Government websites

Business websites

ENGO websites

Federal Government websites

Foundations

University websites

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