A leader in Alberta's energy industry is wondering what the future holds as a new president takes power in the United States.

President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn in to office Tuesday, becoming the 44th president of Canada's largest trading partner.

Energy exports to the U.S. are vital to the Alberta economy, the executive director of the Alberta Chamber of Resources said.

Obama will likely focus his attention on improving the economy, Brad Anderson said, adding that he believes Alberta can play a key role.

"At some point… they'll look to us and see what we're all about. We probably have the single most concentrated energy and resources in the world, so we're extremely strategic. They'll come to that realization [and] they'll see how well we produce things."

While environmentalists are hoping Obama follows through on his campaign promises to focuses on "green" jobs and alternative energy, Anderson said those initiatives will have to wait until after the current economic crisis is over.

"Let's get past this disruption we're having right now in terms of our ability to make a profit in the resource development," Anderson said. "It's pretty tough right now."

However, environmentalists in the United States are confident Obama will move quickly to toughen up environmental legislation.

Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., said she expects Obama will follow through.

"Oil and gas companies, for a long time, have been saying that they're really energy companies, and it's time to really become an energy company, it's time to start investing a lot more in alternatives to fossil fuels," Casey-Lefkowitz said.

She pointed out that a number of people in Obama's administration are keen to address climate change, and said she's hopeful that will lead to the U.S. cutting back its use of Alberta oil.