Controversial coal exploration project approved

The Alberta Energy Regulator approved a controversial coal exploration project on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

The regulator says it determined approving the project is in the public interest and it won’t have negative effects on water quality or wildlife, which many at public hearings argued will happen.

It notes that accepting the need for this exploration program does not constitute approval of a coal mine.

Former Lethbridge mayor Chris Spearman has been outspoken for many years about the approval of this project and spoke to BCN about it.

Aired on: Friday, May 16, 2025

Jeannette Rocher

Born in Puerto Rico, raised in Minnesota and Manitoba, Jeannette has had the opportunity to live in a variety of places including New York, Arizona, and Nevada. After completing college and a paid internship with CBC Winnipeg, Jeannette embarked on her journalism career by moving overseas to take a job on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. While overseas she covered stories in Fiji, Guam and Japan including the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan and its surrounding islands. She covered a mass shooting, an Earth quake, murder cases and other substantial court cases. In 2013 she moved to Alberta where she covered the devastating floods of High River and Medicine Hat for CTV News. She then went on to produce and host Go! Southern Alberta for Shaw TV. She now calls Miracle Channel home. In addition to reporting in the field, you can catch her anchoring daily weather reports, as well as longer interview segments on BCN, and the week-in-review show on BCN Weekends. 

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