RESOURCES 4 LIFE: The Next OIL & GAS for Calgary
RESOURCES 4 LIFE: The Next Oil & Gas for Calgary
By Dr. Jaeger Gustafson
Introduction
People in Calgary are worried about the future. For decades, oil and gas gave us prosperity. It wasn’t just an industry—it was a multiplier. For every job created in the sector, seven more were built across the economy. Families thrived, businesses flourished, and our city grew strong.
Today the question is simple: what comes next? How do we once again become prosperous, not just for a few years, but for generations to come?
The answer lies in the Four Resources for Life—People, Water, Energy, and Information. These are the foundations of the next boom. And just like oil and gas once did, they can multiply opportunities across every sector of Calgary’s economy.
1. People
The foundation is always people. Everyone has abilities. Everyone contributes to the global economy. Strong families make strong cities, and free association—in enterprise and in government—must be organized as a service, not as a burden.
In riparian education, people come first. Schools, community groups, and Indigenous Nations are teaching stewardship along the Bow and Oldman rivers. Programs where students plant willows, test water, and hear traditional teachings show that prosperity begins when people are empowered to build, create, and care for the land together.
2. Water
Our wealth depends on water. Clean, pure water and watershed conservation are the basis of health and industry alike. Without it, no economy can survive. With it, everything becomes possible: food security, innovation, and long-term sustainability.
Riparian zones—those green ribbons, of water-loving plants, along riverbanks—are the guardians of water. They filter runoff, prevent erosion, and protect our drinking supply. Indigenous leadership across Treaty 7 teaches us to see water not just as a resource, but as sacred. Education in these living classrooms ensures that every generation understands water as the source of life.
3. Energy
Oil and gas carried us for decades, but the next wave is here. Safe and reliable technologies like Thermal Transfer Technologies power turbines that light up Calgary’s future. Safe, scalable, and powerful, this is energy prosperity balanced with renewal. While protecting investments in Alberta’s economy.
Riparian health is tied to energy use as well. Educating farmers about wild horses, efficient irrigation, soil conservation, and riparian fencing reduces strain on the land and saves costs. Conservation itself is energy—restoring riverbanks reduces the energy we would otherwise spend on flood recovery, erosion control, and drought response.
4. Information
Finally, the future rests on information. The data age is as transformative as the energy age. If Calgary becomes a hub for information—from AI to quantum computing—we build not just jobs but entire new industries.
In riparian stewardship, information is shared knowledge. Indigenous ecological wisdom, paired with citizen science and digital mapping, creates a living library of watershed health. Students, landowners, and researchers can all contribute data and stories. Information becomes transformation when it is widely shared and acted upon.
Conclusion
The path to prosperity is clear. People, Water, Energy, and Information are the next oil and gas for Calgary—the foundation of the city’s next boom.
When we protect our watersheds and honor Indigenous leadership, we create clean water, stronger families, reliable energy, and smarter information systems. This is how Calgary can lead again. The Bow River Basin shows us the future: a city that multiplies prosperity not by extraction, but by stewardship, innovation, and education.
The choice is ours. If we invest in these four resources of life, the next era of prosperity is already here.
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