Alberta Premier Stelmach Places 2nd in Fossil Fool of the Year Competition

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY – Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has won the dubious title of Fossil Fool of the Year runner-up, beating out several of North America’s top energy and automaker chief executives.

Stelmach picked up 25 per cent of more than 6,000 votes cast worldwide and will be crowned ‘Canadian Fossil Fool of the Year’ on Tuesday, April 1 by San Francisco-based organizer, Energy Action Coalition.

The premier was nominated in the international vote for his staunch support of oilsands development in northern Alberta with “the potential to lay waste to an area the size of the state of Florida,” says the coalition.

Stelmach finished second in voting behind Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis, who has attracted the ire of environmentalists for funding various coal-power projects.

Energy Action Coalition spokeswoman Brianna Cayo Cotter says Stelmach’s notoriety shows that young people all over the world believe that dirty “tarsands” development is exactly what the planet doesn’t need right now.

Along with unveiling winners of “the Foolies,” a variety of events are being planned for Tuesday to mark so-called Fossil Fools Day and target the energy industry across Canada and around the world.