Quote:
Originally Posted by kremb
this just today on MSNBC
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=540710330&play=1
I don't think this is going to play out like any boom we have seen before.
I think that's great Alberta has such high environmental standards. You can't sit there and tell me that full on production of the oils sands is going to be done in an environmentally friendly way.
Remember the game of musical chairs. Remember how panicked and borderline violent it can get near the end of the game? |
This isn't a normal boom, I agree, but operating costs in Alberta are far more expensive than the other major producing areas. As well, the quality of crude in Alberta is not at the level that gets the $80/bbl, its more like $50. The big companies can make it up in volume, its the small and mid-size ones that concern me, and those ones add up to a lot of employment and contract hours.
I agree that its good that Alberta cares about the environment more than most producing regions. I just find it disheartening that people think they are the worst, simply because they are the most lucrative. Agriculture is really bad for the environment (especally pertaining to water use and pollution), but no one crusades against regulating and cleaning up that industry.
The Oilsands will be a mess. I agree. However, they have a list of regulations thicker than a technical manual that they have to adhere to, or pay major fines. Just ask Imperial the cost of cutting corners, re: Lynnview Ridge.
If it was up to me, the government would be more about enforcing the environmental regulations and having some teeth with air and water pollution, than beating their chests about a higher take with record surpluses rolling in.