The Alberta government is gunning for the guts of the Kyoto Accord with a $1.5- million advertising blitz as the first stage of a targeted nationwide campaign.

“If the federal government goes forward with ratification, we will not implement,” Environment Minister Lorne Taylor bluntly told reporters as he unveiled the multimedia public relations strategy in Edmonton and Calgary last week.

“We’re going to take a look at the (climate change) plan, and just say no.”

The ads, which are now running on radio and television, and in weekly papers across the province, warn of skyrocketing fuel and utility prices, tax hikes and lost jobs for all Canadians if Kyoto is ratified. The international accord commits Canada to reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Environment Minister Lorne Taylor plans to ‘just say no’ to Kyoto Accord.

The Alberta government is promoting a “made-in-Canada” alternative to Kyoto that emphasizes new technology to reduce emissions and sets longer-term performance targets for industry.

On Friday, Alberta’s municipal associations agreed to endorse the government’s plan as an alternative to Kyoto.

But the pro-Kyoto lobby group Albertans for Ratifying Kyoto (ARK) says the province is merely hyping a doomsday scenario. “This is a classic case of fear-mongering by a government that does not even represent the majority of its constituents on this issue,” said ARK campaign co-ordinator Jan Triska.

At least one energy company seems to disagree. Last Thursday, TrueNorth Energy LP, operator of the Fort Hills oilsands project, announced it would cut spending on the $3.5-billion project in part due to uncertainty surrounding the Kyoto Accord.

Calgary Chamber of Commerce president John Webb said it’s important to realize what’s at stake with Kyoto, and said recent polls showing many Albertans favour ratification only demonstrate that more knowledge is needed.

“I personally think the split comes from a passion around a clean environment and climate-change issues, which we all share – and a lack of knowledge about the impact of programs like this,” said Webb.

Taylor, who unveiled the ad campaign just hours before Prime Minister Jean Chretien spoke at a Liberal fund-raising dinner in Calgary last week, said the
federal government is clearly unwilling to provide any reasonable implementation plan or its costs to Canadians. Rushing to implement Kyoto will
seriously damage the Alberta and Canadian economies with little environmental benefit, he added.

The public awareness campaign is the first move by Alberta in a national arm-twisting strategy to convince Canadians that Kyoto isn’t in their best economic or even environmental interests. Taylor and Energy Minister Murray Smith are embarking on a cross-country speaking tour prior to a joint energy and environment ministers meeting in Halifax on Oct. 21, where more details on Kyoto are expected to be released.

Taylor said a legal challenge is almost a certainty if the accord is ratified, but stressed such action would be a “last resort” to protect Albertans.

But Chretien insists all Canadians – not just energy-rich Alberta – will have to share the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Chretien, who met with senior energy executives before the dinner, said consumers will have to bear their fair share of emissions reductions, and vowed that ratification of the Kyoto Accord would not “be a dagger aimed at the heart of the Alberta economy.”

Parliament will vote on the Kyoto issue before the end of the year, but it is not yet clear if the targets will be modified or include clean-energy credits.

The PM’s remarks were echoed by Industry Minister Allan Rock, who said a new climate-change plan can strike a fair balance between the interests of environmentalists and the energy sector.

“We can achieve both our environmental objectives and our economic goals – they need not be mutually exclusive,” Rock said at the Calgary Innovation Summit last week. “The plan must support economic growth and take full advantage of innovative technologies, particularly in the energy sector.”

Rock lauded the work of Climate Change Central, a provincially funded, private-public partnership that co-ordinates activities to reduce greenhouse gases in Alberta, for assessing and developing a “sensible” plan for climate change.

“I assure you the national approach will take into account all of the issues being raised at Climate Change Central,” Rock said.

But consumer behaviour also has to be key, Rock added.

“Consumer behaviour and attitudes will be crucial in enabling us to meet our objectives, in choices they make from everything from the way they heat their homes, to the way they conduct their businesses, to choices they make in transportation,” he said.