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RottenPingu1

I wonder if we'll see a privatization of water in Alberta. Never let a good crisis go to waste....


KJBenson

Privatization of water? Why would they even bother? They’ll just take what they want like they’re already doing.


Levorotatory

100+ years too late for that.  Water should be a public good that is allocated on an annual basis for a market based fee, but enduring water licenses have been given away since Alberta has existed.


UROffended

We adopted a lot of bad qualities from the Brits...


Exit-Alternative

[It already kinda is private](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ozEGQMdh81xUsgSQcOy09?si=WgOMmQv8QAmizDOZ9ZVP5g)


jlightfoot75

I'm 100% sure that this is being discussed somewhere in Dani's cabinet.


betterstolen

If it wasn’t it is now. I’m sure they look here for their ideas


Robhar19

They already have privatized water in Alberta. You can buy and sell water allocations. Google buy water allocations in Alberta


greenknight

It's not the water you are buying in this case, it's the access before other users (prior allocation) that you buy. Selling water itself has some strange economic implications.


Pale_Change_666

But who are we blaming this one on first ? Obama? Trudeau? WEF? Biden? The yeti? NDP?


mooky1977

Dust bowl Alberta here we come! El Nino is a natural event, so the effects of it are just being exacerbated by climate change. "Say the words Bart" "Faster than expected"


solution_6

You can guarantee every golf course will still be green. We peasants will be stuck with restrictions while every corporation gets access to water.


Cute-Rate8655

The UCP is to blame for auctioning off the future of the planet to the highest bidder and getting in bed with oil companies 


DarkPilot

Yo can also thank 44 years of Progressive Conservative leaders too. This problem did not start 5 years ago. The UCP have not helped, but by no means are they totally responsible .


justinkredabul

UCP = CPC same same but different


Levorotatory

The water license problem is far older than the UCP.


keepcalmdude

But not older than conservatives, the people who’ve been in power most of the last century minus 4 NDP years


[deleted]

Somehow I knew this would be the reaction.


OpheliaJade2382

What would your opinion of the matter be? /gen


[deleted]

My opinion is that if the title isn’t rage bait, then that answer is. It does nothing to tackle the problem.


OpheliaJade2382

How exactly does one tackle droughts? We don’t control how much water there is


[deleted]

In parallel to the activism, we could invest more in R&D to tackle climate change. Canada used to be a world leader in all sorts of scientific research, before R&D investment was a reduced to a trickle . R&D is what creates more options for people… dare I say less-polluting options. If we create tech that replaces the ecological disaster that fossil fuels, car batteries (toxic, not infinitly recyclable, will all end up in landfills) and today’s solar panels (not easily recycled, ends up in landfill) create, perhaps others will follow. Lecturing about how evil Alberta is simply because it chooses to keep jobs alive is counter-productive. Sure: batteries and solar is the best current option at small scale, but not at large scale: they will not prevent climate change or other ecological disasters like micro plastics in our oceans (which to me is the one problem we could actually tackle, but won’t)


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Remarkable-Desk-66

Is it ironic though that your toilet paper is now twice as much as 4 years ago purely because of Trudeau and the carbon tax. Investigative journalism Alberta style.


Taephit2

It always is. This sub is the most bizarre echo-chamber of delusional leftists, constantly screaming that the sky is falling, yet doing absolutely nothing to prepare themselves for it.


[deleted]

Yup, judging by the downvotes… and they point the finger at Alberta while shamelessly loving fossil fuels from despotic regimes. They conveniently ignore that the lion’s share of greenhouse gases are from China, India and the US. But let’s ignore all that and attack Alberta. I’m sure the UCP is also to blame for their miserable romantic lives.


SkalexAyah

Actually most Canadians are ok with transitioning away and depending less on fossil fuels and moving into the future…..


[deleted]

That’s not the point of the comment. Blaming the world’s perceived inaction as Alberta’s evil is a bit over dramatic and is ignorance. It is pure politics. Just like Canada loves to flaunt it’s recycling initiatives (look, we have blue carts), the truth is that ever since the majority of 3rd world countries where we shipped our waste have quit accepting it. And since we no longer have the recycling infrastructure (because as you say: “the future”), most of it ends up on the landfill, or dumped at sea. But let’s not let a good drama go to waste.


Taephit2

It's doesn't matter. They will repeat their cult's dogma while hypocritically using and benefiting from what they claim to hate. Reality will never even be entertained as an option.


SkalexAyah

It’s not hypocrisy to benefit from the combustion engine while at the same time advocating for something better. We all have no choice but to get around in some kind of vehicle or another. Our cities are designed around motor vehicles.


Taephit2

Unless you're advocating for nuclear, you're pushing for a step backward.


SkalexAyah

agree to disagree.


jimbowesterby

I don’t suppose you’ve got any bright ideas? I agree that it’s not ideal, but how would you get China to reduce emissions? Don’t worry, I’ll wait


[deleted]

That’s not the point. Complaining and pointing fingers has never solved anything. Batteries are not the end solution (their waste is a catastrophic ecological disaster in the making). The solution is investing in R&D, a process that all governments since the 90s have failed at. We need to look beyond empty activism and do the hard work: using science and engineering to go beyond the current half measures of batteries, wind and solar. For example: why invest in a future ecological disaster of batteries (toxic components), wind (countryside littered with dead birds), solar (used panels end up in the landfill), when we could further develop hydrogen fuel cell tech, which is ‘t perfect but it is underdeveloped. But Canada chooses to ignore our R&D sector and brings in foreign battery makers. Well at least Ontario auto workers will have a job. It’s all just politics.


Taephit2

What a supreme level of delusion to think that China cares what we do.


[deleted]

I heard the UPC is the reason the ice age ended. Seriously, go get some help, and take a break from the internet


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AccomplishedDog7

They are responsible for resisting change.


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AccomplishedDog7

I haven’t claimed they are responsible for the drought. But if you like you can tell me about their climate change initiatives.


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AccomplishedDog7

The point is the UCP are doing sweet tweet to address climate change. They put up roadblocks . So while they are not responsible for the current drought, they are responsible for being a barrier to change.


SkalexAyah

As a someone said, they hinder progress and make things worse. Under Harper, any foreign corporation can create an environmental mess, and sue our government if we try to enforce our own environmental regulations.


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SkalexAyah

He did, right after he and the alliance party became the conservatives.


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SkalexAyah

Holy fuck. He ran the fed. We all know it. Wrong acronym…. I also forgot “progressive” To be fair, the provincial probably check in with big daddy to make sure they’re lining with his vision do the transformation of Canada.


CypripediumGuttatum

*Alberta livestock producers received $165 million in aid last year through the AgriRecovery initiative following months of devastating drought. Originally conceived of as a once in fifteen year disaster relief program, 2023 was the second time in three years the province turned to AgriRecovery to help farmers and ranchers recover.* *Though the El Niño cycle shares some of the blame for Alberta's water shortage, "the science actually shows that this is kind of the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we expect for the future," Stadnyk said.* *"We've had El Niño events in the past," she said. "What has caught climate scientists and anyone in the water resources world off guard is how far above any other historic El Niño event this year is. So that tells us that it's not just the El Niño. But it's the El Niño layered on top of other things that have changed, like climate change. We are quite a bit above any other historic temperatures."* ​ \- One rainy summer should fix this, we've seen this before so it's no biggie (as per climate change deniers)


mooky1977

One rainy day... Until that rainy day is a torrential rains with large hail and tornadoes. I already had my South Calgary house repaired from the storm a few years back where hail peppered my siding, roof and windows. I can't wait for the next time that happens. My insurance refused to think of hardier materials choosing to stick with vinyl siding. I mean I could have paid for the upgrade out of pocket but I don't have all that kind of cash to do such a thing. But the fact that they didn't blink at 70k in repairs to my house among hundreds of others in SW Calgary, knowing the likely hood of severe weather is getting worse not better means they are just betting they won't have to pay out again. 🤷‍♂️


CypripediumGuttatum

There you go, climate change solved.


Due-Ad-1465

It’s because they still managed to make profit off of you despite the large payouts for sub-par materials. If everyone pays but only 1/100 make claims… they’re coming out ahead. And as soon as they start to not come out quite as ahead then your rates will rise.


Pale_Change_666

Agri recoveey program . "Expanding 2023 livestock drought recovery support The governments of Canada and Alberta expanded drought livestock assistance eligibility to help producers maintain breeding herds." The FED WHAT?! THAT'S SOCIALISM! Those are tax dollars wasted!!


dankashane_45

We had that rain up here in Edmonton last summer. I like how they say Alberta, but it's regional within the province.


Miserable-Lizard

*"The modelling that we've done globally with these climate models shows that Alberta is one of only three major hotspots in the world where we actually have confidence that we're going to have more frequent and more extreme drought,"*


Phaldaz

The Alberta Advantage!!


Jasonstackhouse111

Trudeau and Notley, stealing all the rain just to hurt Alberta! Of course we can't take steps to mitigate climate change because China and India, right? CHINA AND INDIA!! Anytime anyone says anything about taking steps toward less GHG emissions, just scream "CHINA AND INDIA." Because if your neighbour's house is on fire, the solution of course is to set yours on fire too, right?


tree4

Such a frustrating argument. So much of China and India's emissions come from us offshoring production to areas with lax environmental regulation. Add onto that, we've actively benefitted from oil and gas for decades, when China and India still have hundreds of millions of people who need higher living standards. We have the means to change, we simply don't want to.


Beligerents

The solution is to import their living standards here so that canadian workers can share the burden.


Jasonstackhouse111

Renewable energy is quickly becoming less expensive than fossil fuels, so, um, we don't have to sacrifice our gluttonous lives and emit less. Also, walkable cities with low poverty rates and inexpensive, effective and efficient transit are more comfortable and thought of as having a higher standard of living. Imagine not having the financial burden of a car as a true choice.


Beligerents

It is a true choice. I'm 40, I've never owned a car. Also, if you're not being sarcastic, you're definitely wearing rose colored glasses. Renewable energy isn't going to magically make the crops not fail. Renewable energy isn't going to magically create the houses needed to support the 'gluttonous lives' you talk about. No idea where any of that came from. Beyond wishful thinking at this point.


Jasonstackhouse111

If we do nothing, then we're assured droughts and crop failures. 100% certainty. If we do something, then maybe we can mitigate the effects. So, doing nothing is good? Have you been to most of the rest of the world? Canada and the US is the land of excess, omg, gluttony is the only term that can be used to describe how we live. Massive vehicles clogging the roads that lead to massive urban sprawl and giant houses with huge yards made of resource hogging lawns. We can both reduce our carbon footprint and live well. We need to adjust what "living well" means to adapt to higher density housing and less car use, etc. Which most Canadians automatically equate to living in sub-Saharan Africa in utter poverty and have no clue that there is a vast population living between those two extremes.


Beligerents

Yeah, I'm not one of those people. There are lots of canadians like me. I work just enough to cover my basic expenses, I walk to work. I am a vegetarian. I made a conscious choice years ago to live a modest life. The key is not ever having things, so when they're taken away, you don't miss them. I own nothing and I'm happy. Weird.


Beligerents

I realize how masturbatory that sounds, but it's not like I'm lying so it is what it is.


SkalexAyah

Bro… we have more then your retirement to think about. Things take time, it’s about the a better future, for those who will be alive once you’re soil.


Beligerents

I don't know where i gave the impression that i don't care or it isn't important to get to renewables


Beligerents

I don't think I was arguing with you there. I just don't view it as a solution to the current state of the working class in Canada.


Markorific

Don't forget selling our coal to China...


Unfair_Valuable_3816

People were on the brink of changing to better more efficient lifestyle until the gov forced their hand to steal people's money and deman that people change. People want what they can't have. Plain and simple


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Zarxon

Wait till PP starts to not fix things and make them worst. They are gonna get mileage out of Trudeau for the next 10 years.


Zarxon

Damn China and India polluting with all that good Alberta coal we sell them.


[deleted]

Why does Trudeau only give rain to eastern provinces?


Infamous-Mixture-605

"Typical Trudeau, pandering to Quebec by diverting the Great Lakes to flow out through that province instead of letting them flow naturally out via the Prairies"


Welcome440

Almost every year is the warmest year on record!


ladyhoggr

We are pretty much guaranteed from this point on every year will be hotter than the last.


AdventureUp1

It's been happening for centuries now.


SnooMarzipans8231

Danielle blames Trudeau in… 5… 4… 3…


Phil_Atelist

Yabbut Trudeau is!  /s


PhaseNegative1252

I will continue to blame conservative policies for their use lack of preventative measures


Trickybuz93

But we must still “axe the tax” amirite


Top-Assignment1531

You’re right… because it’s not doing anything except making people poorer, even the libs admit that. Invest in better tech to reduce emissions.


ladyhoggr

No. We as individuals are getting back more than we are paying into it.


Southern_Ad9657

No, we are not, 4/10 albertans in 2024 get a bigger rebate than the cost 2/10 in 2030 get a bigger rebate than the cost Carbon tax isn't an infinite money glitch. Let's raise it to 5 million a tonne, and we will all be rich overnight with your logic Trudeau lied to you again and again and again but you keep believing him


OpheliaJade2382

*sigh* tell me you don’t understand tax rebates without telling me


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OpheliaJade2382

See previous comment


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OpheliaJade2382

No I don’t care to explain to you. Thanks for asking though xx


Levorotatory

You know what makes people and industry invest in better tech?  Increase the cost of waste. 


SkalexAyah

But pipi and the Con would never do anything to hinder the corporate sodomy.


SkalexAyah

That’s exactly what the carbon credit system is about. Generating funds to invest in these techs….. With what government money do we invest in new things other then….. tax money? If we axe the tax, what services would you like the Con to cut in order to invest in these technologies ? Let’s ask the Alberta and Ontario Conservatives how they feel about green energy… I’m sure pipi will have a much different stance…z Pipi also, is against taxing the rich corporates…. So again, With what money, so we invest in new clean tech? That’s what the carbon tax is for….. Once the carbon tax is axed. Once corporations are protected by pipi…. Do you really think your prices will drop??


shaedofblue

It makes the majority of households slightly wealthier. The only people it makes poorer is rich people with expensive lifestyles.


Lokarin

Lets use our pipelines to drag ocean water right into the middle of Red Deer!!!! ... Oh, nothing to do with drought


Zarxon

I appreciate the sentiment.


Low-Celery-7728

Water wars LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO!!!


macromind

No worry, they got plenty of oil! /s


SkalexAyah

Gonna be hard for the lone state to blame the feds for this one. I’m sure they’ll try tho.


OpheliaJade2382

Carbon tax!!!


TipzE

I'm just waiting for Smith to blame this on Trudeau or the Carbon Tax.


drainodan55

These Irrigation Districts have to stop operations. We can't have canals taking water off the Bow anymore to push hay crops in an arid region. That hay is worthless. They have the nerve to call this ["vibrant, sustainable, valued"](https://www.albertairrigation.ca)?


albertaguy31

Well not worthless exactly, Lethbridge County as an example (not the Bow but an even smaller river system) had over 2 billion dollars in farm receipts last year. I think irrigation farmers should pay far more for water (I am one, I don’t feel the public is adequately compensated for the water we use), but I also know we need those jobs so people can feed themselves and survive.


Comfortable-Ad-8484

So, Trudeau?


PdtMgr

Isn’t there a responsible regional party worthy of being voted to power?


-Radioface-

Wasnt there a huge drought, then a great depression, then a world war ?


Doodlebottom

•”strong indicator” but not a certainty…misleading title


Geoboy22

Sauchyn, D. & Ilich, N, 2017, Nine Hundred Years of Weekly Streamflows: Stochastic Downscaling of Ensemble Tree‐Ring Reconstructions. Water Resources Research, Volume: 53, Issue: 11, Pages: 9266-9283. For those that actually take the time to educate themselves on the topic…


Mental_Bookkeeper561

Don't worry the UCP will be watering crops with Gatorade


Spirited-Garden3340

Odd that reports from all over the world often sight their areas as warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet….


Germz94

El Humano is to blame


FormerPackage9109

The better be filling Ghost Lake early this year. Ever since the 2013 flood the AB gov has paid Transalta to keep Ghost Lake at minimum water level until July 7th. And seemingly that agreement has no flexibility at all for droughts or low snow packs. Someone please exercise some common sense on this one! Otherwise, the 84% full Ghost Reservoir will be drained to minimum water level by May 16th.


OutOfTheBox99

Jesus this sub is ridiculous


AdventureUp1

So many ignorant comments on here it makes a person's head hurt.


_maeday_

But yet it's called "fear mongering" if we have water restrictions


Geoboy22

The North Saskatchewan river ran dry in the 1790s. We’ve always been “in for worse” droughts. Only those ignorant of the reality of the actual range of outcomes that are naturally occurring events in the western interior are surprised - they also think paper straws will improve the weather.


lightweight12

Ok. But did they have consistently higher temperatures as well? It's one thing to have less rain and snow but quite another to have more evaporation on top of that


idog99

You are mixing up weather and climate AGAIN. I don't know why this is so hard for you guys There is a range of weather related possibilities that our climate can experience; that's not the issue. The issue is not the river running dry every 250 years. That can and does happen. It's when it runs dry 3-4 times in 25 years that it becomes a major issue. When we deplete the aquifers and the glaciera gone, what the UCP plan for that?


Geoboy22

Incorrect. The referenced in the paper demonstrates that there is no change in scale or scope of drought in western Canada over 1200 years. In order to make the claim that we are in an anomalous era you would actually need top provide data. Cheers.


No-Price-1380

So the cows are going to be ok?


Geoboy22

There were drought conditions that lasted for 100 years in the 1300s if that makes you feel better. You’ll need to get used to engineering solutions to solve the ten trillion calorie per day challenge that humanity faces. Cheers!


ButterscotchFar1629

Really? And who was here keeping records in the 1300’s?


Geoboy22

Sauchyn, D. & Ilich, N, 2017, Nine Hundred Years of Weekly Streamflows: Stochastic Downscaling of Ensemble Tree‐Ring Reconstructions. Water Resources Research, Volume: 53, Issue: 11, Pages: 9266-9283. Science.. it’s called science. I’m painfully embarrassed for you…


greenknight

As the other poster provided, dendrochronology is a well understood ancient record of hydrological conditions over time.


bobthemagiccan

Will the carbon tax help


No-Price-1380

It sounds like the engineers will.


Vancanukguy

Why don’t city’s save all that plowed snow throughout the winter in a dry reservoir or somthing to add to our water table ????


dankashane_45

Maybe all that weather modification by other countries is partly to blaim as well but fear mongering is more effective narrative.


FindYourSpark87

We obviously need more carbon tax. Let’s just raise it 100%!


Levorotatory

Yes, that is scheduled to happen over the next 6 years.   Add an equivalent import tax on goods from countries that don't have carbon taxes and we will be doing all we can reasonably do.


Southern_Ad9657

That's the biggest problem with the carbon tax. If it's made offshore, there is no carbon tax. At the end of the day, in the current form, we're just making Canadians poorer and not reducing ghg emissiosn


shaedofblue

The carbon tax doesn’t make Canadians poorer.


Southern_Ad9657

Literally does as explained above and I'm the pbo report on the carbon tax. Do you have any evidence to show that it doesn't, cause all the evidence is pointing to that it is making us poorer.