When it comes to the oilsands -- the economic powerhouse of the province -- it seems the Alberta government can't catch a break.
To add to the long list of international publications that have focused on the environmental costs of the world's second-largest oil reserves, National Geographic chose its March edition to splash images of the development across its pages, with pictures of unsightly tailings ponds.
The iconic magazine highlighted issues ranging from the loss of aboriginal homelands to the destruction of boreal forest. At the same time, U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa focused attention on Alberta's vast bitumen resources.
Environmental groups have used the opportunity to take aim.
ForestEthics and two northern Alberta First Nations groups took out a full-paged ad in USA Today showing Canadian oil oozing over the United States, while newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal waded into the environmental debate.
The Alberta government is -- on what has become a regular basis -- in a pitched struggle with environmentalists and the media over control of the thorny climate change issue.
The politics surrounding the oilsands -- and the world's understanding of Alberta's bitumen reserves -- threaten to define the Stelmach government's time in power.
Earlier this week, Premier Ed Stelmach said criticism that Alberta has the dirtiest oil on Earth is "most unfortunate."
"It's obviously disconcerting, but that's part of the misinformation that continues to roll out quite often from self-interest groups, painting Alberta and the country of Canada with a picture like that," Stelmach said.
But Simon Dyer, oilsands program director for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, said that from the Alberta government's point of view, "there still seems to be the perception that this is a public relations battle."
Former federal energy minister Anne McLellan said although government and industry have lagged behind key issues in the past, they are getting the message that the environment matters.
"Talk isn't good enough anymore. And good intentions. People are saying, 'Show me,' " said McLellan, who spearheaded new laws a decade ago that kick-started widespread development of the oilsands.
The U.S., which gets one-fifth of its crude imports from Canada -- mostly from Alberta -- will always need Canada's oil, she predicted. However, Obama has made clear he wants his country to become a leader when it comes to reducing the world's greenhouse gas emissions, she added.
Trade will go more smoothly if Alberta and Canada can show they're not being "obstructionist, that we are not ostriches with our heads in the sand ... and we want to do better," McLellan said.
A $2-billion commitment from the Alberta government to build carbon capture and storage technology is a good start, she said. However, the oilsands also consume more energy and water to produce than conventional oil.
Critics, including opposition members and environmental groups, are suspicions about the Alberta government's timing on recent initiatives. In the days and weeks leading up to the president's visit, Alberta was awash in environmental actions.
The Alberta government laid charges against Syncrude for the deaths of 500 ducks in a tailings pond last year, issued a report on cancers in aboriginal communities downstream from the oilsands, and the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) developed new water rules concerning water usage. It released a 20-year blueprint for Alberta's oilsands that aims "to reduce the environmental footprint, optimize economic growth and increase the quality of life in Alberta's oilsands regions."
But the report, Responsible Actions: A Plan for Alberta's Oil Sands, was criticized for being light on details.
"The real title should be Look Busy: Obama is Coming and We're in Trouble," NDP Leader Brian Mason told the legislature when it was released.
"Why don't you admit this so-called plan is just window-dressing to placate world opinion?"
Indeed, things have changed dramatically from the days when former premier Ralph Klein dismissed many similar concerns with jokes about climate change -- at one point saying the ice age could have been caused by the intestinal emissions of dinosaurs.
Nowadays, it seems that every time Alberta moves to protect the environment, opponents decry it as being too little, too late -- or window dressing for the sake of world opinion.
For instance, this week the ERCB rolled out draft directives for energy companies to use less water in their in-situ oilsands processes, where companies heat up the molasses-like bitumen to draw it to the surface. Earlier this month, new rules on tailings ponds were released.
Both announcements drew flak from several corners.
Provincial Environment Minister Rob Renner said Obama's visit did not influence the series of announcements. Criticism of the government's policies is to be expected, but it's not fair to call the work a "cynical" public relations exercise, he said.
"Anyone who wants to draw parallels or somehow say there was an effort to manipulate the timing is simply not recognizing the tremendous amount of time and effort that went into developing these reports," Renner said.
Regardless of what policies have been adopted, the Alberta government is moving from earlier hard-line stances concerning the environmental impact of the oilsands on the environment.
And although the U.S. president has previously spoken of breaking his country's addiction to "dirty" oil, Obama did not use the term during his visit to Canada this week.
In a TV interview, he acknowledged the oilsands "creates a big carbon footprint." But Obama was careful to point out the U.S. has its own problems with significant greenhouse gas emissions coming from coal-fired power plants. In Ottawa, he talked about carbon capture and storage technology being a part of the solution.
Obama's comments on using technology to solve the energy issue were lauded by Stelmach, who said Obama is "clearly speaking Alberta's language."