Can someone explain why this is wrong? There are plenty of other things that require paying a fee upfront for disposal. And solar panels are notoriously poisonous and don’t belong in landfills. This seems like a particularly… environmentally friendly step? Why is this being framed as something bad?
Nobody is opposed to a recycling fee. If you actually read the article you will see it's 2.5x to 100x the recycling fees imposed anywhere else in the world. And accompanied by a disinformation campaign from the government.
Notably the same province has a massive abandoned oil & gas well problem that they have failed to deal with for decades at this point.
The same government also effectively banned the use of renewables to power datacentre projects in Alberta, forcing them to use natural gas only.
I stopped reading halfway because it sounded like pure propaganda to me without any justification as to why it was unreasonable.
$10 USD/panel sounds very reasonable to me, especially considering the recycling won’t occur for ~25 years. The fact it’s “more expensive” than other countries is not relevant since each country has their own structure and recycling fees aren’t an apples to apples comparison.
Adding $200USD to a $25k solar panel install so that recycling is taken care of doesn’t sound nearly as bad as what the article is declaring.
"I stopped reading halfway because it sounded like pure propaganda to me without any justification as to why it was unreasonable." Please stick to the HN rules. Please act in good faith
Alberta is the most US-like province. As it's not been hit by Trump tariffs, it opposes any change to the current situation. As it's based on oil revenue (with some food production), of course it opposes renewable energy sources. Bit selfish, it is.
I wonder how loud they'd yowl if "no trade with Canada" gores their ox?
Implicit in all the "we'll bring Canada to heel" and "we don't need anything from Canada" talk is an Alberta/Sask exception. They don't mean AB/SK. They mean the rest of Canada, which leans further to the left politically and has more of a manufacturing sector or agricultural / forestry focus.
Also notably there are US states like Texas which are also extremely focused on fossil fuel production which aren't taking this aggressive anti-renewables stance. Alberta is actually further on this axis than any other regime in North America -- taking on a very explicit anti-renewables stance. Even effectively (through regulation) banning their use in large scale datacentre rollouts.
The local elites there are extremely threatened by any renewable talk; they run an active disinformation talk, and formerly the province had one of the fastest growing renewable sectors in the world. (Alberta gets a lot of solar hours and has high winds, too)
Aside, I was coming back from Edmonton a couple days ago and in the airport there's a wine/liquor store with a sandwich board out front proudly proclaiming that they "have US wine & liquor for sale!" -- completely thumbing nose at the rest of the country as a business opportunity.
Entrenched interests want to take us all down with them, unfortunately. They will burn the field and salt the earth rather than yield control and lose their parasitical source of wealth.
I’m not at all defending this, but before you freak out, it’s a $14 fee per solar panel. Not like 25% tax on utilities that produce solar or somesuch.
In case you want to appropriately calibrate your anger.
Can someone explain why this is wrong? There are plenty of other things that require paying a fee upfront for disposal. And solar panels are notoriously poisonous and don’t belong in landfills. This seems like a particularly… environmentally friendly step? Why is this being framed as something bad?
Nobody is opposed to a recycling fee. If you actually read the article you will see it's 2.5x to 100x the recycling fees imposed anywhere else in the world. And accompanied by a disinformation campaign from the government.
Notably the same province has a massive abandoned oil & gas well problem that they have failed to deal with for decades at this point.
The same government also effectively banned the use of renewables to power datacentre projects in Alberta, forcing them to use natural gas only.
I stopped reading halfway because it sounded like pure propaganda to me without any justification as to why it was unreasonable.
$10 USD/panel sounds very reasonable to me, especially considering the recycling won’t occur for ~25 years. The fact it’s “more expensive” than other countries is not relevant since each country has their own structure and recycling fees aren’t an apples to apples comparison.
Adding $200USD to a $25k solar panel install so that recycling is taken care of doesn’t sound nearly as bad as what the article is declaring.
You're putting a lot of faith and trust in a questionable Premier.
"I stopped reading halfway because it sounded like pure propaganda to me without any justification as to why it was unreasonable." Please stick to the HN rules. Please act in good faith
Alberta is the most US-like province. As it's not been hit by Trump tariffs, it opposes any change to the current situation. As it's based on oil revenue (with some food production), of course it opposes renewable energy sources. Bit selfish, it is.
I wonder how loud they'd yowl if "no trade with Canada" gores their ox?
Implicit in all the "we'll bring Canada to heel" and "we don't need anything from Canada" talk is an Alberta/Sask exception. They don't mean AB/SK. They mean the rest of Canada, which leans further to the left politically and has more of a manufacturing sector or agricultural / forestry focus.
Also notably there are US states like Texas which are also extremely focused on fossil fuel production which aren't taking this aggressive anti-renewables stance. Alberta is actually further on this axis than any other regime in North America -- taking on a very explicit anti-renewables stance. Even effectively (through regulation) banning their use in large scale datacentre rollouts.
The local elites there are extremely threatened by any renewable talk; they run an active disinformation talk, and formerly the province had one of the fastest growing renewable sectors in the world. (Alberta gets a lot of solar hours and has high winds, too)
Aside, I was coming back from Edmonton a couple days ago and in the airport there's a wine/liquor store with a sandwich board out front proudly proclaiming that they "have US wine & liquor for sale!" -- completely thumbing nose at the rest of the country as a business opportunity.
Regressives that will be left behind by most of the world within 10 years.
Entrenched interests want to take us all down with them, unfortunately. They will burn the field and salt the earth rather than yield control and lose their parasitical source of wealth.