30 Fairmont Park Lane S
Lethbridge, AB T1K 7H7
Phone: (403) 328-1704
Friday, May 26, 2017
The Editor
The Lethbridge Herald
P.O. Box 670
Lethbridge, AB, T1J 3Z7
Minister Phillips continuing trumpiant trashing of the previous government’s
record on energy efficiency and climate change is getting tiresome. A May 23rd
article in the Herald; “Alberta catching up with energy efficiency” provides
“alternate facts” from Minister Phillips readily countered by information
available on the Internet.
Minister Phillips claims, in the article cited, that Alberta had no plan related
to the ”energy crunch” of the 1970s. In fact, a document from the federal
government; “Initiatives in Domestic Energy Conservation”, November 1981,
indicates Alberta was fully engaged in responding to energy concerns of the
time. An Alberta Government news release, Budget 2009, indicates that “Cash
rebates will help Albertans be more energy efficient.” That program was managed
by Climate Change Central, a provincial initiative established in 1999 to
highlight efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Fortunately for humanity, the tenacity of science based technology development
transcends petty politics and ultimately produces dramatic improvements in the
way humans utilize energy. The overall efficiency of heat engines has improved
from about 1% to 60% over the past 250 years. Similarly, the highly efficient
LED lighting Minister Phillips is promoting has been gradually developed over
the past 100 or so years. This technology is ready to replace the incandescent
lights we grew up with. It does not need to be pushed with carbon tax funding.
Energy science and engineering endures. Politicians come and go.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast