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“The question is at which point we will stop burning them and using them for higher purposes because we have substituted energy sources?” he asked.

Just as the demand for coal dropped — causing a decline in Pittsburgh’s economy — Edmonton, and Alberta need to be prepared for the decline in fossil fuels, Iveson said.

Peduto said Pittsburgh was where coal was discovered in the United States. And oil in the United States was discovered just north of Pittsburgh.

“Coal helped to build the steel that built America,” Peduto said. “It is part of our heritage, it’s something we’re very proud of, both my grandfathers worked in the steel mill. But we also realize that it is not necessarily our future.”

He said people from Pittsburgh realize that the world is moving on, adding that Pennsylvania today employs more people in the renewable energy sector than in coal, oil and gas combined.

“It’s a very hard thing to tell people that change is inevitable, but it is,” he said.

But the winds of change are blowing.

Iveson said the change from fossil fuels to renewable energy is not going to happen overnight, so there’s going to be economic opportunities and responsible stewardship of energy resources in Alberta and Edmonton.

But there is also opportunity — both in the private and research sector — for innovation.

“The innovation that will be required will put humanity to the test but in a very exciting way and with great urgency,” he said.

And, in spite of time being one of the biggest challenges of dealing with all the risks that come with climate change, there is pushback from a few people, some of who claim that there is no such thing as climate change.

Iveson said this can usually be countered by well-informed, thoughtful dialogue grounded by science.

And the science is pretty simple, said William Solecki, a geography professor at Hunter College-City University of New York, who was also present at the news conference. While climate has changed in the past, the rates of change fuelled by human action are unprecedented.

For those people who are not convinced by empirical evidence, Iveson has a question.

“Are you willing to bet your kids’ future on being wrong?”

halam@postmedia.com