Alberta government documents confirm coal lobbying on Rockies mining, show months of planning

Documents released under Alberta Freedom of Information laws confirm the United Conservative government was talking with the coal industry for years about relaxing a policy that protected the Rocky Mountains from open-pit mines.The documents also show the province was talking about opening those landscapes to more development generally for at least seven months before letting the public in on its plans.The Canadian Press has seen material released to a group of southern Alberta ranchers who have waged a four-year battle against Alberta Energy to understand why the province rescinded a decades-old policy protecting the Rockies from coal mines.