The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Alberta Premier Jim Prentice warns Canada faces serious economic repercussions unless pipelines are built to open new trade routes. The Globe's Gary Mason writes that Mr. Prentice says gaining access to new markets for Alberta energy is of critical importance, but that work must be done while battling an international image problem. Mr. Mason says Alberta's image is one fashioned in part by Hollywood stars who have successfully branded the oil sands an environmental catastrophe. On Wednesday, Mr. Prentice changed the diplomats in the province's two foreign offices in Asia and Washington, appointments the Premier said underscore the priority he is placing on accessing new markets for Alberta's oil and gas. One of those key posts went to federal Conservative MP Rob Merrifield, who has quit his elected position in Ottawa to take over Alberta's trade office in Washington, where job one will be pushing hard on the Keystone XL pipeline file. Mr. Prentice is also shaping a new climate-change strategy that will see the province shutter many of its coal plants and replace them with new investment in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.