After being spurned in Ottawa, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will be taking her energetic enthusiasm for Alberta’s energy sector to what will likely prove to be a more enthusiastic — and receptive — audience in Washington DC this week.Smith will meet be meeting with US members of Congress and industry leaders in the American capital on Wednesday and Thursday to pitch opportunities in both Alberta’s traditional and emerging energy markets..It comes after being shunned by parliament’s natural resources committee despite making an offer to chairman George Chahal — who is also a Calgary MP — to appear before it in Ottawa on Monday. Chahal apparently couldn’t make time for the premier despite her offer on national television.That won’t be the case on Capitol Hill. While there, she’ll also take time to talk about technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage, methane, geothermal and biofuels. “Alberta is, and has always been, a friend to the United States. We share a common mission to ensure North American energy security and a reliable energy grid,” she said in a statement. “I am looking forward to sharing how our province strives to be the most credible, responsible supplier of energy in a decarbonizing world, and the successes we have achieved as we grow our economy while reducing emissions.”.It will be Smith’s first visit to Washington since being elected as premier last May.And she has good reason to look south of the border for support for her energy policies than east to Ottawa which seems determined to shut her — and Alberta — down.That’s because the US is Alberta’s largest trading partner and Alberta is by fay the largest Canadian exporter to its southern neighbour.Fuelled by energy, Alberta’s American exports totalled US$141.3 billion in 2022. Energy products accounted for the vast majority of that sum as $119.6 billion or 90% of all trade.
