Today, readers are responding to B.C joining Alberta in pledge to impose cleanup timelines on oil, gas wells, by Renata D’Aliesio and Jeff Lewis. This story is part of a six-month Globe and Mail investigation that showed about 20 per cent of all oil and gas wells in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan are inactive, and that there are 54,147 more idle wells in those three provinces than there were in 2005.
A Sequoia well site near Ponoka, Alberta, November 3, 2018.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Dear Jeff and Renata,
Good original reporting on this file.
Nobody should disagree that this sort of legislation mandating a clean-up timeline on oil and gas wells should be enacted. It is a clear example of shoddy leadership to note that the government of Alberta and Saskatchewan are only considering this now, and only because the size and scope of the problem has been revealed by news investigations.
In the same breath I’ll say that I don’t want to see a set of rules enacted that force oil and gas producers to unreasonably catch-up the many years of neglecting this problem. They were playing by the rules. Bankrupting those companies would be the next level of shoddy political leadership by our governments.
The oil and gas industry is vital to Canadians and hydrocarbon energy sources are critical to our quality of life in this brilliant western liberal democracy. Texas frackers have made North America energy independent and freed us from the extortion of Middle East countries. This is one of the biggest and most wonderful energy supply surprises in decades. U.S. state governments, like Texas, seem to have managed their wells, our Canadian governments seem to have failed miserably. - trishee1
We need to create a New Deal-esque program where green energy and remediation/environmental protection are heavily promoted by industry, education, and government. Oil and gas are deadly dinosaurs. We need to clean up the poisoned land and water, export our expertise around the world, and generate energy with green options. The world is moving this way, because it has to. Skate to where the puck is going. - Cynical in Toronto
I don’t believe you can really clean up oil and gas wells. - callmesteve
From: Who’s going to pay for oil’s massive clean-up bill? We are, a column by Gary Mason
"Right now, governments seem content to kick this problem down the road, and let the next generation deal with their incompetence and shameful lack of courage to do the right thing."
And why wouldn’t they think so? After all, for the last 30 years it’s pretty much what most of them been doing with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The difference has largely been that centre-right governments have been happy to lie or parrot anti-scientific gibberish to justify their lack of action, whereas centre-left ones have said the right things but been afraid to act on what they know needs to be done. - Mark Shore
Pseudo-capitalism at work. Privatize the quick profit and socialize the long term costs, liabilities and losses. The sad and infuriating thing is that gormless, milquetoast politicians are complicit in it. - Drew BC
All these transaction were approved by regulatory bodies. To suggest these oil and gas wells will not be cleaned up by oil companies is ridiculous. Both BC and Alberta can raise royalties or bring in a new tax on oil companies to make sure oil companies pay for it. There is no reason to think taxpayers will fund the cleanup. - Jack Reacher
In response to Jack Reacher:
Until B.C. and Alberta take the steps you suggest there is every reason to believe that the taxpayer will fund the cleanup. - confused again
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