The cost of environment.

Where is Alberta with the polluter pays law in the clean up of an estimated 78000 Orphan wells with a current estimated 100 billion to clean up along with tailing ponds that have seen leakage issues, an estimated 1.4 trillion litres of toxic fluids including dangerous levels of mercury, arsenic, lead, ammonia, benzene and naphthenic acids, sprawl over 300 sq km , an area 2.6 times the size of Vancouver? No one seems to know but don’t take it from me if you’re not aware, which is your choice. However here’s some info you may want to consider. There is a new group called Coalition for Responsible Energy composed of land owners, indigenous groups, scientists, academics and civil society and together are addressing that very concern on where to start. One of the interesting points made is, taxpayers are continuing the compensation payment on orphan wells. It was stated in this interview to be costing us taxpayers as high as 50 to 60 million a year. That is money not going to support the services that our UCP government keeps reminding us of their funding cutbacks requirements, while still managing a reported projected deficit of 5.2 billion this year. You can find this interview by Energi media titled, Make Alberta oil companies pay to clean up dirty wells, says new group. Or use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kVGdNCazDE. I also recommend this excellent historic view on how the oil industry from the early days to our current day development, what governments made decisions, what impacts we are now challenged with, who’s responsibility on what’s being done or ignored. If you can spare this 52 min presentation it may open your eyes wider to where we are today and what our provincial government is doing about it. Created by Land and Lore on YouTube, titled, Alberta’s oil sands are growing and it’s poisoning Canada. Or use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhKwZG1-_Pk Or you can continue to ignore the realities and pass the problem and costs along like we have been doing for decades to future Albertan families. Last thought, local university energy economists state the industrial carbon tax is very well designed to create incentives for large industrial emitters to fine tune their intensive margins not their extensive margins on emmissions, not their overall production that Smith’s UCP has stated it is. Talk to your MLA. As was said in not so many words, Environment, Drowning in knowledge, Starving for wisdom.
~Dennis Bigras