Alberta's Energy Minister Sonya Savage provided a live update to the province's coal policy consultation survey today, and to make an announcement.

Savage started by announcing that all coal exploration projects in Category 2 lands are to be immediately halted.

The move comes following a recommendation from the Coal Policy Committee, who have been reviewing feedback from the nearly 25,000 Albertans who participated in the initial survey from March 29th-April 19th, 2021.

Coal Policy Committee Chair Ron Wallace also made an appearance, providing some details on what responses are looking like.

"The top-ranking issues when discussing Alberta's coal policy were identified as environmental impacts of coal development, and if and where coal development takes place. The majority of respondents feel that there are areas of the province that are not appropriate for coal development, while almost one-third of respondents acknowledged that there may be areas of the province where development could be considered."

He says many respondents showed interest in further participating in the consultation process online and learning more about the approval process for exploration and developments.

They fielded questions from the media in the latter half of the broadcast, several of which outlined concerns from Albertans regarding the survey.

Wallace responded to claims from some Albertans that the consultations are a facade in order to reach a foregone conclusion.

"Any comments to the effect that this committee will not hear concerns from the public on air, land, or water, is false. We look forward very much to hearing that discussion, and we look forward very much to reflecting responsible recommendations to this minister that [sic] will address those concerns. I hope that answers your question."

Savage also responded, stating that today's announcement should be a clear sign that the consultation process is leading to direct results based on the feedback.

"Of course this is a credible process and of course we're going to hear the recommendations. There's absolutely no pre-ordained result of this. That's why we're setting up consultations, that's why it's set up with an independent committee. I think our steps today with shutting down existing, pre-approved exploration on Category 2 lands demonstrates that."

The minister also addressed concerns that the survey was narrow in scope and didn't allow for participants to voice specific concerns on the policy.

She says the survey was meant to lay a foundation for the greater consultation process.

"To be clear, this survey is not the consultations, the survey is to form the basis of what the engagement would look like. To be really clear, that initial survey is why we're here today to put a pause to full exploration, because Albertans, in that survey, told us, told our government, and told the coal committee that those explorations needed to be halted pending the outcome. So that was the intent of the initial survey; gauge the views of Albertans on a very preliminary basis so the committee knew what to focus on going forward."

The committee will continue to review the results, with more information expected to be released soon.

In the meantime, Savage again asked for Albertans to keep an eye out for further engagement opportunities, and to participate once those opportunities arise.