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To invest in Alberta’s oil industry, or back away slowly, was the question at the crux of a rift between Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and environmentalist and policy adviser Tzeporah Berman last weekend.

In back-to-back speeches to social studies, environmental studies and Indigenous studies teachers at the River Cree Resort and Casino Saturday, Berman and Notley made contrasting pitches for why oil pipeline projects like the Trans Mountain expansion to B.C. are either a white-knuckled grasp on a dying industry, or a necessary investment to keep people employed and cover the costs of a transition to renewable energy, respectively.

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“We can’t address climate change by building more of the past,” Berman told reporters after the addresses. “The idea that pipelines are answers to climate change is absurd. You don’t buy more cigarettes to quit smoking.”

In her speech, Notley said far-left environmentalists are as much of an obstacle to progress on tackling climate change as right-wing politicians. Jabbing at British Columbia, Notley said Alberta can’t build its economy around condominiums and coffee shops.