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by debo_ 5 days ago
Alberta has shown us that proper policy incentives can drive meaningful change. Instead of leaving rats to languish in cellars, they created incentives for them to do meaningful work in the provincial government instead.
2 comments

The irony that they figured out how to eliminate rats, but can’t diversify from oil and gas is pretty special.
It's unsurprising from a financial perspective, since both oil and gas (directly) and rat eradication (indirectly) make the province a ton of money.
Given the trajectory of the world’s on, it seems pretty obvious to me that diversifying from oil and gas is required for a long-term sustainable economy. I think the more interested in short term benefits than long-term success.
> Given the trajectory of the world’s on, it seems pretty obvious to me that diversifying from oil and gas is required for a long-term sustainable economy.

I agree that that would be a good idea, but oil and gas are so deeply embedded in the local culture that it won't be very easy to convince everyone else that it's a good idea.

> I think the more interested in short term benefits than long-term success.

There is unfortunately a tendency to do that here [0] [1] :(

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Heritage_Savings_Trust...

[1]: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/alberta-governmen...

Also, many of them are sepa-RAT-ists.