Country Musician, Corb Lund, has started a petition to stop coal mining on the Eastern Slopes. Photo from Watchdog Management website
Country musician, Corb Lund, has launched a citizen initiative to ban coal mining along the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies.
Lund created the initiative in late November, and now Elections Alberta has 30 days to approve the application.
According to Lund, he started this petition, because of some local ranchers.
Lund says he didn’t know anything about the coal mining, so he did research, which included talking to government ministers, the opposition, the head of the Canadian Coal Lobby, Coal CEO’s, ranchers, outfitters, anglers, and hunters.
The Alberta Government announced the new coal policy, the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative, in December 2024.
As part of the Alberta Government website for the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative, it states that the Rocky Mountains are not open for new coal development, and that the 1976 Coal Development Policy has not been rescinded.
According to the Alberta Government, this new Coal Industry Modernization Initiative will “ban new open-pit coal mining in the foothills (Eastern Slopes) and keep selenium out of our water through the development of a modern, long-term legislative framework that guides responsible coal mining practices.”
It goes on to state that this legislation “will prohibit mountaintop removal coal mining, prevent new open-pit coal mines in the foothills and require that any new coal mining must use techniques which use best water practices and prevent adding selenium to waterways.”
Yet, in May, it was announced that the Alberta Energy Regulator approved a coal exploration project on the eastern slopes of the Rockies.
In June, 2025, the Alberta Government held a townhall in Fort Macleod about coal, and Lund attended.
According to Lund, Premier Smith responded to his Initiative on T.V., where she stated she heard people’s issues with coal mining, and have already moved to underground mining and put the coal policy in place.
But Lund isn’t satisfied with that.
Not only that, Lund says that even if the policy is back in place, we have seen policies around coal be replaced.
On top of that, Lund says that most of the Albertans that know about this are opposed to it, and there is competing facts put out.
While it may seem to some that Lund is acting in a political way, he says that he is just wanting to keep coal mining out of the headwaters.
When it comes to the fiscal part of the coal mines, Lund is concerned that it will be taxpayers covering the cost of remediation.
Lund adds that they will say anything they need to say to get in there, but once they get in there, they start cutting corners.
Lund’s Initiative was specifically designed to include the Grassy Mountain project.
He did that, because he is disillusioned with the government, because he feels the government will just say they are fixing the problem, without actually fixing it.
Lund says that he has also had conversations with a Dutch Coal Engineer, Cornelis Kolijn, who had assessed the coal at the Grassy Mountain site.
According to a report from the Alberta Wilderness Association, which Kolijn wrote, the quality and market value of Grassy Mountain project’s coal product has been overstated.
“The quality and value of its Tier 2 product are inferior to the Elk Valley’s Prime Hard Coking Coal products. Product quality will rapidly decline after the initial production years. Coal pricing on the international market is highly volatile,” the report reads. “Grassy Mountain’s product quality’s decline is highly likely to generate inadequate cash flow after year 10, if not earlier.”
According to Lund, he doesn’t know why the Grassy Mountain coal project is being pushed through, especially with that information from Kolijn.
He feels the government should actually shut down coal mining on the Eastern Slopes.
If Lund’s Initiative gets approved by Elections Alberta, he will have four months to get 1780,000 signatures.
After that, he will submit the signatures, and at that time, the signatures will be verified.
Lund hopes that the government will simply make actual legislation to prevent coal mining on the eastern slopes.
One thing that still bothers Lund is that a plebiscite was held in the Crowsnest Pass, on whether or not they wanted the coal mines.
A large portion of those who were polled were in favour of coal mining, but as Lund points out, the mining isn’t even happening in their county.
Lund says that he has received a lot of backlash about his stance on coal mining on the eastern slopes, but he wants people to know that he is a sixth generation Albertan.
Not only that, but Lund, his family, his animals, and more drink water from the Oldman River.
The Oldman River also flows through Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and more.
Lund adds that, even though a coal mine would create some jobs in the Crowsnest Pass, he feels it is a short-term gain for the amount of ill effects the project will have.
To learn more about the Initiative and stay up to date on its progress, check out Corb Lund’s Facebook page.
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