Premier Ed Stelmach says an ad placed in national newspapers was to remind Canadians of Alberta's good environmental record. (CBC)The premier of Alberta insists it was a good investment to spend almost $120,000 of taxpayers' money on newspaper ads in the Globe and Mail, the National Post and some Quebec newspapers Thursday.

Titled "An Open Letter" and signed by Premier Ed Stelmach, the ads defend Alberta's environmental record and point out that the province made $21 billion in transfer payments to the federal government last year.

"It certainly goes out in the amount of jobs, actual money that supports social programs in every province," Stelmach said in an interview with CBC News.

"Given the finger-pointing that occurred in Copenhagen by Quebec and Ontario, beating up on Alberta, I thought it was just time to get the information out."

Alberta's program to levy a tax of $15 a tonne on carbon dioxide emissions that exceed a set target, and invest the proceeds in technology to reduce emissions, is the right strategy, Stelmach said.

"Technology, we know, is going to help us get ahead of all of the environmental challenges we have."