Albertans love pipelines and hate renewables, right? Well … not exactly. Two recent surveys conducted by Probe Research indicate Albertans’ attitudes toward energy and the environment may not be quite what they are commonly presented to be, or what politicians in Edmonton and Ottawa believe them to be.

Our premier, Danielle Smith, and her UCP government promote pipelines religiously as did the NDP when they were in power. Prime Minister Carney has added his voice, and has appointed a former pipeline executive to run his new Major Projects Office, headquartered in Calgary.

No doubt Albertans generally support a prosperous oil industry, but they have their limits. According to a poll commissioned by the Pembina Institute and conducted by Probe Research, most Albertans (61 per cent) oppose taxpayer money being used for new pipelines. A surprising two-thirds of Albertans also say the province is too dependent on oil and gas.

A year ago Premier Smith confidently predicted that the private sector would ante up with a pipeline proposal “within weeks.” Albertans have noticed that even though the premier has put up $14 million of their money toward a plan, and the Major Projects Office is in Calgary, the heart of the industry, no private sector pipeline champion has appeared. Pembina oil and gas director Janetta McKenzie observes, “Albertans know that when the industry itself isn’t jumping at the chance to invest, something isn’t adding up.”

Premier Smith has agreed pipelines should be privately financed, but she also hedges. Playing the sovereignty card, her favourite, she comments that building a pipeline is “a test of whether Canada works as a country.” The threat of separation isn’t without its uses.

Albertans are also more supportive of green measures than commonly thought. For example, most support industrial carbon pricing (60 per cent in favour vs 20 per cent against), partly because it supports alternatives to oil and gas.

Indeed, they are very much in favour of renewables. Another survey by Probe Research, commissioned by the Business Renewables Centre, found that two-thirds of Albertans want more renewable energy projects developed in or near their own communities. Importantly, this is true for rural areas, where most grid-scale solar and wind projects are built. It appears Albertans are more YIMBY than NIMBY. Yes, in my backyard.

The Pembina survey also indicated Albertans may not be as offended by federal involvement in energy as the premier endlessly insists. It showed that nearly half agreed that if the province fails to do enough to combat climate change, the federal government should step in with its own policies (49 percent support, 38 percent against).

These surveys indicate Albertans, despite suggestions to the contrary, are very much concerned about climate change. Furthermore they want both levels of government doing more about it. They still care for their oil and gas industry, but it’s no longer enough. They want more.

According to Pembina’s McKenzie, “Not for the first time, the national conversation is dominated by pipelines and oil and gas expansion. Leaders in Alberta and Ottawa should stop and ask themselves if that’s based on an imagined idea of what Albertans really want right now.”