The federal government Monday, November 21 announced that coal fired generation of electricity will be phased out by 2020.

Alberta's minister of the environment says it shows our province is on the right track.

Shannon Phillips says they're still working on transitioning communities and workers who rely on coal for jobs.

"The very first commitment that we made was to ensuring an appropriate transition for the communities and the workers because there's two different things here, there's the municipalities and the affect on them and the individual workers themselves," Phillips says. "So that's why Minister (Deron) Bilous is leading the process he is, consulting with coal affected communities and it is why we have discussed these matters with the federal government as well."

Phillips says they're committed to coming up with a plan before the phase out happens.

The minister would not say whether moving forward on the coal phase out would help move forward the construction of pipelines, such as Kinder Morgan.

"I don't think I want to speculate on federal motivations or play pundit, in my view what's really important here is that we are making good on some of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions pledges, we are reducing our GHG's in some of the most cost effective ways we can, which is through the electricity system," she says. "We're doing so in a way, from Alberta's perspective that ensures a good transition for communities and workers."

Minister Phillips says the province is positioning the economy for what's to come, a carbon constrained future.