As the founder and CEO of a renewable energy company, I help drive clean energy development in Canada with more ambition than most. But I am a realist. And that also makes me — perhaps surprisingly — a staunch pipeline proponent.

Developing more efficient ways to transport energy and protecting the environment are not conflicting ideals. The energy sector is evolving. The world is transitioning toward renewable energy. But right now, it still needs fossil fuels to get there.

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Alberta’s oil and gas sector is highly innovative and is among the safest and most environmentally regulated in the world. If Canada is to be a true climate leader, we need to make our responsibly produced fossil fuels accessible to global markets.

Global consumption of oil and gas is not slowing down anytime soon, and continued opposition to pipelines in Canada will not curtail it. If anything, pipeline opposition erodes Alberta’s share of the global oil market, for the benefit of countries with far less stringent environmental standards. It encourages riskier, more expensive and emissions intensive modes of transportation, such as moving oil by rail, when the fact is that pipelines produce fewer emissions, are safer and cost producers far less. Pipelines even have the unique potential to become powered by renewable energy.

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As a pro-business Albertan and energy sector entrepreneur, it concerns me that continued regulatory delays are eroding international investor confidence in Canada. If we are to make any progress in the energy sector — whether through renewables or oil and gas — we need to support projects, such as the Trans Mountain expansion, that keep us globally competitive.

Investors around the world are demanding that the companies in which they invest take clear action to mitigate carbon risk. Alberta has been making this happen for more than a decade through both industry and regulatory policies.

Alberta became one of the first jurisdictions in the western world to regulate carbon emissions from large industrial operations and the newly elected provincial government has shown dedication to retaining this important climate policy. All our coal-fired power plants are set to be retired by 2030 and billions of dollars of new investment is underway in Alberta’s renewable energy sector.

The federal government is expected to deliver its decision regarding the future of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on June 18. It is my hope that the Canadian government recognizes Alberta’s climate leadership and approves this project, which will address the market access issues that have been facing this province and our country for over a decade.

Before I entered the renewable energy space, I worked for years in Alberta’s oil and gas industry. I have worked on both sides of Canada’s often polarized energy sector and have come to understand that environmental responsibility and pipeline development are much more complementary than they are opposed.

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The Trans Mountain expansion will create jobs and bring economic prosperity while ensuring the safe and environmentally responsible development of oil and gas, continuing Canada’s path towards climate leadership.

I am confident we will see a future in which renewables eventually become our main source of energy. In the meantime, global markets need access to the safest, most responsibly produced fossil fuels possible. And our province is the best jurisdiction for the job.

On June 18, our province, country and the world deserve a Yes, for the economy and environment’s sake.

Dan Balaban is the founder, president and CEO of Greengate Power, a Canadian renewable energy company based in Calgary. Over the past decade, Greengate Power has been responsible for the successful development of 450 megawatts of wind energy in Alberta, representing one-third of the wind energy produced in the province and an investment of approximately $1 billion.