The Promise of Geothermal

The Alberta Greens believe that the province of Alberta needs to move from being just an oil province to an being an energy province. We have everything that we need to be in the energy business, and the major oil companies are already repositioning themselves as energy companies. One area that Alberta could excel in is geothermal energy.

We know that the center of the Earth is molten and holds a tremendous amount of heat. By drilling down into the ground we can set up a heat pump that will pump heat from the earth to heat a building. The same process, using condensers in the same way that a refrigerator does, can be used to cool buildings instead of using air conditioning.

http://www.geo-exchange.ca/
http://www.geothermal.ca/what-is-geothermal/

The Alberta Greens believe that with the number of geologists and rigs in Alberta, geothermal is a natural addition to our energy options. We have a chance to become a center for excellence in a technology that has been shown to be a major player in supporting low carbon emission technology like that in Iceland.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=3d78a730-2ce4-46bc-859d-1ca6384efffd

Alberta is already starting to embrace geothermal energy. The Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties building is heated by geothermal energy, and in Rocky Mountain House the local swimming pool is run on geothermal heat. A number of companies in Alberta are already working with this technology. It is all about the choices that we make: economic prosperity and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

George Read
Leader, Alberta Greens

The Alberta Greens believe that democracy in Alberta is in trouble. We believe that the only way we are going to protect the rights of Albertans is to elect Green Party MLAs.

The Alberta Greens believe in grassroots democracy. Debate should be allowed to run its course. Debate is healthy and allows all sides a chance to air their views on an issue. Closure is a procedure where debate is cut short in the legislature and a vote is called. The history of the Alberta legislature is that under Peter Lougheed closure was only invoked once. Ralph Klein invoked closure 21 times from 1993 to 1997.

http://pubs.pembina.org/reports/33.Voter%20Participation.pdf

Ed Stelmach just invoked closure on the Bill 46 issue. The debate over land owners’ rights and the state of democracy in Alberta will be ended by the premier. That is both ironic and sad.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/11/30/4696929-sun.html

The Alberta Greens believe that the EUB needs to be restructured. We believe that Albertans should be able to vote for the people on the board. Our policy calls for districts to be set up based on watershed areas so that local people can be involved in decisions that affect them. Openness, transparency and democracy are all about allowing people to vote and be heard.

George Read
Leader, Alberta Greens

For more background on Bill 46 see

Blogs
http://www.albertagreens.ca/blog/edwin_erickson/2007/10/29/energy_minister_out_of_touch

http://www.albertagreens.ca/blog/george_read/2007/10/01/media_release_bill_46

External Websites
http://www.killbill46.ca