A sign opposing coal development in the Eastern Slopes of the Livingston range stands south west of Longview in June 2021.-CP FILE PHOTO
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The petition headed by Corby Lund to curb new coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains has been approved.
While the petition was initially applied for in December 2025, a new bill introduced which amended Alberta’s legislation on citizen-initiated referendums forced Lund to re-apply. The petition was officially re-submitted Jan. 16 and was approved Jan. 26.
Now that the petition is officially posted as of Jan. 27, Lund and organizers will have 120 days to collect a total of 177,732 signatures, equalling 10 per cent of the total number of votes cast in the previous provincial general election.
The legislative petition proposes that “The Government of Alberta shall prohibit through legislation all coal exploration and mining activities within the Eastern Slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, other than mines that are in actual production as of January 1, 2026. For clarity, this prohibition includes Northback Holdings’ Grassy Mountain Project and Valory Resources’ Blackstone Project, as well as any projects to expand any producing mines.”
As the petition has been found to meet the requirements of Section 2 of the Citizen Initiative Act, notice has been posted and signatures will begin collection in days to come.
Further information on the goals of the petition, as well as information on how to get involved, is available online at coalpetition.ca.
“Coal mining in Alberta’s Rockies threatens our water,” states the Water Not Coal petition website. “Coal mines destroy the landscape and release toxic chemicals into the air and water, which threatens fish, birds, wildlife, livestock and the water we drink. This is why Corb Lund started a Citizen Initiative Petition to put an end to all new coal mining in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.”
