Well known Canadian singer-songwriter Corb Lund is adding his voice to the many people opposed to open pit coal mines on the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

He says the lack of consultation is just a part of the problem.

"It's all happening really fast under our noses, quietly, and that's why I decided to make some noise about it because I just didn't like, I didn't like the content of it and I didn't like that it was happening so quickly without a whole lot of open talks," he says.

Lund says there isn't much good that can come from developing coal mines in the area.

"The category two land that's been opened up for coal leases that was previously protected by the Lougheed coal policy is, I think, 1.5 million hectares. I've seen a map, it's big," Lund says. "I've also seen a map of all the coal leases they've already sold on it so that's also big and scary, it involves our water, our drinking water across a big chunk of the province, a big chunk out of mountains which I don't think should be ripped down by open pit mining, end of story."

He says he's spoken to a former government official who said some of the best decisions they made was to admit mistakes and reverse their decision.

"They should just take a long hard look at it, listen to the people, admit they made a mistake and say 'you know what, it's not an easy job, we made an error here, we're going to restore the coal policy' and I think people would respect them for that, I think it might end up being a big part of their legacy."

Lund says if you took a poll on the street and asked who thinks it's a good idea to have 1.5-million hectares of pristine foothills that's been protected for 45 years opened up to coal leases you wouldn't find much support.

 

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