A year after Rachel Notley's NDP formed government in Alberta, anti-oil protests have moved from sidewalks and street corners to private meetings with the premier's closest advisers.

It's a big change from only a few years ago when condemnation of the oilsands and Alberta government attracted worldwide attention.

In 2008, then-Premier Ed Stelmach gave a speech following the provincial election to a packed house at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton.

While Stelmach took centre stage, eyes were drawn to the back of the room as a gigantic protest banner was unfurled, bearing the words "Stelmach, the best premier oil money can buy."

It was an annoyance to the premier, who had just led the PC party to another majority government in Alberta. And it was an embarrassment to organizers of the PC fundraising dinner.

Greenpeace protesters unfurled this banner behind then-premier Ed Stelmach at a Tory fundraising dinner in Edmonton in April 2008. (CBC) Greenpeace demonstrators snuck onto the catwalk above the auditorium to upstage Stelmach, firing another salvo in the war against fossil fuels.

The Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental organization, says the world is taking note of a different tone coming from the Alberta government under the NDP.

Ed Whittingham with the institute says the Alberta government's new climate change plan is improving the province's reputation.

"What we're not seeing is the big oilsands flyovers or the Neil Youngs coming through right now," said Whittingham. "Certainly that has ebbed compared to what it was even this time a year ago."

The Pembina Institute sees the price on carbon and cap on emissions as a path to responsible development. But other environmental organizations are not as generous with praise.

Pipelines a problem for some

The National Research Defense Council (NRDC) is a major international environmental organization based in the United States.

In 2013, it sponsored a series of videos slamming the oilsands in its campaign against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would extend from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.

The video messages featured high-profile actors such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Robert Redford, who also sits on the NRDC board of trustees.

Anthony Swift, the Canada program lead for the NRDC, says the Alberta government has "bought goodwill with its climate policies." He said the world is looking for carbon emission reductions that are in line with Canada's international targets.

"There's no question the atmosphere in Alberta and Canada has changed over the last year." said Swift.

But he still has concerns.

"Alberta has moved forward but there is some consternation about continued focus on tar sands expansion pipelines and how it will bend Alberta's emissions curve," Swift said.

"NRDC does still have serious issues with plans to create a dramatic expansion of production in that region."

Social licence

According to Notley, pricing carbon and fast-tracking the phase-out of coal-fired electricity are ways to gain backing, or the so-called social licence for pipeline expansion.

In a passionate speech to delegates at the federal NDP convention in Edmonton last month, Notley excited the crowd by linking job creation and prosperity to Alberta being the most "smart, sophisticated, progressive, energy producer on the international stage."

Rachel Notley continued to push for pipelines during the 2016 NDP federal convention in Edmonton last month. (Codie McLachlan/Canadian Press)

At a ceremony to sign a new consultation protocol agreement between the Alberta government and Treaty 8 First Nations, Notley said social licence is a phrase "but quite frankly, it's just doing your due diligence."

These days Greenpeace in Alberta applauds the Notley government's new climate change plan. But spokesman Mike Hudema says the province still has a long way to go.

"The biggest elephant in the room is still the tar sands," said Hudema, "which is one of the biggest emitters (of greenhouse gases) in the province."

"What we see now is the premier pushing for new pipelines and that will just add further damage."

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) believes the NDP is on the right track by championing the need for more pipeline capacity.

Tim McMillan, president and CEO of CAPP says without more capacity to move oil to new markets, investment dollars will go to places such as Nigeria and Venezuela, instead of Western Canada.

"If the price of oil comes back into the $50 to $60 a barrel, are we going to be attracting our proportion of world investment for oil and gas development?" he asked. "I think if we look at it today, the answer is 'no', we won't be as competitive as we should be."

McMillan says limited market access and pipeline capacity is one of the major reasons investors will look to other regions of the world.

kim.trynacity@cbc.ca

@Ledgewatcher







