Are We on the Verge of Ecological Disaster?

This link is from a Harvard publication and was brought to my attention through Ruben Nelson of Foresight Canada. Ruben is one of the Reboot Alberta "Weavers" - the integrated whole-systems thinkers who help me try and make sense of the energy and angst behind the Reboot Alberta citizens movement.

Ruben's note was a reference to a piece in yesterdays New York Times by Thomas Homer-Dixon entitled "Disaster at the Top of the World."  I hesitate to add the New York Times link due to copyright concerns.

There is a great danger that Alberta will be very vilified by geopolitical propaganda forces like the Corporate Ethics "Rethink Alberta"  advertising campaign against tourism to our province due to oil sands development.  They, amongst others, have decided to target the oil sands as "dirty oil" and push perceptions that Albertans are not doing enough to respond to the environmental charges being laid against us.  Well quite frankly we are not doing enough.  But that is a far cry from doing nothing about the environmental and habitat consequences of oil sands development either.  The problem is our actions speak softer than  our words and too much of what we say is done in expensive glossy and untrusted paid-advertising counter-attack campaigns.

We need to do more, better, smarter, faster and with more authenticity integrity, honesty, accountability, transparency and demonstrate the on-going and extended efforts towards environmental stewardship of Albertans.  Only that way will be counter the criticism and return to being proud as owners of how this vital and necessary resource is being developed.

Albertans already know this from some values research we have recently completed.  For example the research that shows over 75% of Albertans think an integrated approach to protecting wildlife habitat, doing science based reclamation. ecological monitoring  and more concern for water and greenhouse gases is what we need to use as values to guide and drive oil sands development.  Acting with wisdom on these concerns starts to put Alberta in the preferred future spot of being the best for the world and not merely getting irresponsibly rich as we are been seen by many outside Alberta these days.

There is work being done but it is not what is being talked about in response to the criticism.  Jobs and investments are important but they are the givens in the oil sands game.  We already have more of them than we can handle responsibly. Yes they might dry up if commodity prices drop but we have no control over market prices and besides there is enough work and investment in the hopper now that will lasts us long into the future.  Time for the narrative to more on to the real issues of concern to Albertans about oil sands developments about environment and habitat protection and reclamation planning and performance.

Ruben has some hard-edged observations in his e-mail to me as to why there is a need for public pressure to do the right thing and that this cannot be left to governments and industry alone.  He said that "...business will not act as a sector - it is too tied up in short-term self interest, and democratic governments will not act until there is an obvious mega-disaster among their own citizens."

As citizens and owners of the oil sands Albertans have to start taking responsibility for how they are developed.  If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Cultural Creatives Are Showing Up in the Next Alberta

I love creative people with courage to imagine and explore.  Beth Sanders is just such a person.  She is an Urban Planner who I met a few years ago when she was working in Fort McMurray in the planning department of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

She runs her own business called Populus Community Planning Inc. and is a member of the progressive citizen's movement of Reboot Alberta.

She attended a symposium called Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta we at Cambridge Strategies co-sponsored with the ATA, Literacy Alberta and others.  As a "creative note taker, she wrote poems to capture the conversation.

Speaking of creative people, you may want to see if you are a Cultural Creative and therefore likely to be a Progressive too.  Check out the survey link "Are You a Cultural Creative?"   If you are you might want to meet like-minded Albertans at the Reboot Alberta site where you can register to the Taking Action gathering of Rebooters Nov 5-6 in Edmonton

As for Beth, the cultural creative, here is a sample of one of her symposium offerings that I offer to help make your day this crisp and cool Monday morning in our Alberta:

inspiring education

an important day

for inspiring education

listening for resonance

and build the next Alberta

with shock and awe

genuine wealth

and happiness

knowing neighbours

walking to school

in the absence of truth

myth pervades

stories

we need to talk about

conscious  of renaissance

of home

economy, ecology

in genuine well

being

resilient

spirit

care

holders

diversity heals

inner spirit

virtues, values

individual to collective

practically

measuring

happiness

when I hear the word

spirituality

I reach for my revolver

to revolt

oh, you do care

about friends, family, children

we’re not bad people

we can look here

to be happy

learning to live

together

then

literacy for efficiency, equity,

efficiency

happiness

not without

mismatched skills and jobs

but diverse interventions

for significant work

wrestling shortages

demanding literacy

to entice investment

so how to support, lead

catalyze change

continually improving complex systems

observe the time

for opening

taking, making

holding space

until then

an unusual choice for

a whole province

to aim quite high

transforming, designing, researching

choosing

commitment to

excellence, equity, value

add – ing

what is, to

what could/should be

resilience designed with talking, listening

conversation

for action

If Beth's poem resonates with you and if you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

How Proud are You as an Albertan and Owner of the Oil Sands?

Here is a very interesting article by Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute on the reality of government and industry actions on addressing the obvious challenges in responsible development of our oil sands.   As owners of the oil sands we Albertans have to start demanding more attention to the key issues of oil sands development beyond getting rich quick.

We need to ensure we realize the wealth from this resource for the development of Alberta and to respect the birthright of future generations of Albertans.  This has to be done through a realistic royalty regime.  We had a modest increase in royalties recommended by an independent review but the current government retreated from the recommendations 7 times so far.  We now get lower revenues from royalties with $75 oil that we did at $40 oil.  Go figure.

We need to ensure and be assured that the development is done with the best evidence and science based eco-conscious extraction techniques.  We need to ensure that there is more benefit to Albertans coming out of the oil sands than investment and jobs, important as those are.  We need to ensure the pace of growth, the commitment to reclamation is real and that land, water and air as well as wildlife habitat are monitored, and damaged mitigated, fixed and aggressively protected.

If these questions are of interest to you go to www.cambridgestrategies.com and do the Are You a Cultural Creative survey.  If you are, you should consider coming to RebootAlberta 3.0 and become part of the design, development and delivery of a more progressive political culture in our Alberta.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0

RebootAlberta 3.0 is Coming and all About "Taking Action"

Reboot Alberta is hosting its third gathering of progressive thinking Albertans (RebootAlberta 3.0) in Edmonton November 5 and 6, 2010 at the Delta South hotel and focused on what needs to be done to get a progressive political alternative for Alberta.

The agenda will be about Taking Action and will be a call to action for Progressives who are hungry for the Next Alberta.  If you agree that politics and democracy Alberta is broken and we need to take a different path forward then RebootAlberta 3.0 is where you want to be.   

You will get a chance to help decide what changes we need, what needs to be done to make those changes happen and what you as an informed and engaged citizen can do to make a difference.  The times in Alberta are about a power struggle between Libertarians who would isolate individuals from the needs of the larger society and our status quo politics that is more interested in sustaining political power than serving a greater and inclusive vision of Alberta. 

If you are bored with apathy and disengagement and see a chance to co-create the next Alberta as a progressive forward thinking, inclusive, prosperous, ecologically responsible and sustainable real democracy then come to RebootAlberta 3.0.  RebootAlberta 3.0 is not just a call for action – it will be action.  At RebootAlberta 3.0 you will get to share your sense of the preferred future for our province, find a way to get personally active and become effectively involved in achieving that future with other like-minded progressive Albertans.

RebootAlberta 1.0 enabled progressives to discover that they are not alone and many other Albertans thought like them and shared concerns about where Alberta was going as a society, economically and in our duty to the environment.  RebootAlberta 2.0 was focused on the values and priority issues progressives shared in common.  RebootAlberta 3.0 will be about determining what needs to be done to make Alberta reflect progressive values and then Taking Action to make it happen.

The next provincial election may be sooner than March 2012, in any event, the work of informed and engaged citizenship has to start now if we aspire to get a progressive political agenda ready to present to the people of Alberta as well as to the political parties and leaders who will seek our consent to govern.

Good government starts with citizens taking personal responsibility for ourselves, our families, our communities and others who need our help, especially children and vulnerable people in our society.  We also have to be aggressive in asserting our citizenship responsibility as the ownership of our natural resources and insisting on the highest quality of environmental stewardship now and for future generations.  It is about honest, open, accountable, transparent and fiscally responsible government that serves the greater good with integrity.  

Those are the primary values of progressive Albertans and we do not believe they are being provided by the current political power structure.  There is plenty of blame to go around for this including the lack of informed, engaged and active citizenry who have been too compliant and content with the democratic deficit and the lack-lustre political leadership of the status quo.

RebootAlberta 3.0 will be a place to change all that and take back control of our democracy, create more effective alternatives to the status quo governance and to rid ourselves of out-dated and ill-conceived political philosophies that do more harm than good to life in our province as well as on our planet.

Citizenship is more than “What’s in it for me?”  It is also about figuring what you are in Alberta for and then taking personal responsibility for the longer term greater good as well as you own self interest.  With all the potential and promise that is Alberta we ought to aspire beyond the boosterism of being “the best place in the world” and try and be “the best for the world!” 

If this makes sense to you come to RebootAlberta 3.0 and start to co-create a better Alberta.  You can register here and the first 75 get an early bird discount.  Click here to register

Progressive Albertans Taking Political Action - the Essence of RebootAlberta 3.0

I have been busy in out of town activities and summer time and remiss in keeping current with blog posts.  That will change starting now.  That is because I have signed the contract for the hotel to hold RebootAlberta 3.0, the next gathering of Alberta progressives will focus on what needs to be changed in order to put Alberta on a different more integrated social, political, economic and environmental trajectory.

RebootAlberta 3.0 will be in Edmonton November 5-6 at the Delta South hotel and registration will be open tomorrow.  Mark you calendar and register early, this event, like all past RebootAlberta events, will sell out quickly. I will post the link for registration on this blog in the morning along with another blog post.

RebootAlberta 3.0 will be citizens getting together deciding what most needs doing to get Alberta on a more progressive path.  It will see people making a commitment to take personal action to renew democracy, review our governance and make a difference on any issue or concern they may have as individual Albertans.  They will find other link-minded Albertans who will get with them to make a difference.

The goal is not to be the bland boosterism you hear who have a goal of making Alberta the best place in the world.  There is a much greater potential for this province if we the people dare to push ourselves and capitalize on our skills, blessings and capacities.  We can be the best for the world and perhaps with our enormous hydrocarbon energy assets we have a duty to strive for such an audacious goal.  But we need to renew our democracy, revise our institutional governance models and revive our sense of citizenship before any of this can happen.

If you have 10 minutes (and I encourage you to make the time) take a look at this video and get some context about what I am talking about.  It is from the United Kingdom but it travels well into the current Alberta context. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3Jp3ydfE8&playnext=1&videos=hGdSiM4qY_A

If you wonder if you are a progressive go to the Cambridge Strategies website and do the "Are You a Cultural Creative" survey.  That will give you an indication and then come to RebootAlberta and find your tribe.