Suddenly Ed-the-Earth-Destroyer Stelmach is hounded everywhere he goes.

He was the target of environmental groups that protested outside Canada’s climate change conference in Vancouver.

But Stelmach fended off criticism over his government’s new climate-change strategy that won’t see absolute greenhouse gas reductions until 2020. Stelmach warned that implementing dramatic emissions reductions in Alberta similar to what’s called for by the Kyoto Protocol and some provinces would have a devastating domino effect across Canada.

“The economy of Canada is dependent, in large part, on the economy in the province of Alberta. So if we were to race everyone and immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that would mean a total shutdown — a total shutdown — of the oilsands,” a defiant Stelmach told a herd of national media.

“If that happens, not only will it be significant job losses across the country,” he said. “It’s jobs in the Maritimes, it’s contracts in Quebec and in Ontario — and that is what (premiers) talked about. I’m not saying this in a boastful way, it’s fact.”

Ed is beginning to sound more like George W by the day – we will develop and sod the rest of you. Makes great sense, Ed …