A very well reasoned article on fracking. We need the jobs and the royalties and western provinces can teach us how to regulate fracking. How do we get our government back on track; how do we get them to study and define the potential at least?
Wow Bill, of all the commentaries I have read about this issue by far yours is the most insightful. The narrowing the opposition to fracking into the process of obtaining a suitable “social contract” is very pointed. The comparison to Donkin is well stated. I feel our government has erected a 20 foot high cement barrier with armed guards when a stop sign would have sufficed on the road to energy exploration. I am reading the Wheeler report and no where in it does it propose a ban as the Minister suggests. He commented that he hasn’t stopped anyone from investing in NS because no one is looking to frack here. That’s a fair point on the surface. When you think about it, that very fact is also a perfect reason to not wade into the media spun rhetoric on fracking. I believe we’ve made our province an “anti-fracking” regime which will hurt us in the energy game. I really like Andrew Younger, but he got this one wrong.
Bill: I am in favour of developing our shale gas and oil assets in a careful, professional way. As Joe Oliver said, there are thousands of wells in Canada. Why are we so scared to try? One thing I have not heard discussed is what kind of shale exists in N S…. As The Economist mag reported in August , Argentina has huge shale reserves,as confirmed by the US Energy Information Administration . My question is…has any competent independent body done a serious recent study of what amount of shale and what kind lies under our surface. Are we having these bitter comments based on any good information? Have our universities anything to say? Good column. Jim.
While there are arguments for or against tracking , the fact remains it is a process that can be measured . The vocal anti- fracking groups have been able to highjack the government on this one . Here again we have engineering degree granting subsidized universities that could be tasked to do a scientific based evaluation, yet we ignore that opportunity . The Board of Dalhousie should be embarrassed that with all their engineering “expertise ” that they have done nothing to better inform the public and government .
The Wheeler report was not very fact based . You could see that as Wheeler was getting questioned by the anti -fracking people that they were far better equipped with information than was Wheeler. His report was not at all a good report when he says that more study is needed. This was not a conclusion . He avoided making a conclusion based on the evidence and studies to date. Businesses make decisions all the time and know there are risks , so they plan to deal with the perceived risks .
If a drill site is chosen,seems to me the risks in that area can be assessed . According to the risks , they either get a permit or not and if the risk is there ,they have to post a bond or deposit money into a fund to cover potential damages . If there is no damage , then they get their money back .
This government is showing it has not learned to govern and that it can’t manage the bureaucracy .
The first step should have been to simply do the research and examine what has happened in those provinces where fracking has been and continues to be approved .
The public is only hearing the one side of the story and the scare tactics are making the politicians so nervous about votes that they have totally lost sight of the task .
The Premier has been boxed in by Younger . They can’t be that dumb to not realize a total “no” would not affect the future of any gas exploration in the Province . They know the offshore supply is decreasing so we are heading to increasing the amount of gas we import if we do not have another supply .
Surely with all the coal geology history of NS we know that gas is a part of that same geology and why not at least try . You can establish buffer zones , have bonds on deposit , have 24/7 monitoring when you at least try a few drills to go ahead .
No, MacNeil and Younger, can’t seem to see their job is to at least try , not run and hide .
This is scary. Our provincial government is making important economic decisions based on public perceptions regardless of merit. If it submits to irrationality because to do otherwise would be unpopular, we are in deep trouble. We are being led in a “race to the bottom”.
It appears (to me at least) that the main underlining resistance to fracking ,at this juncture,may well be that Nova Scotians do not really know and understand all that much about it. In this regard , their current attitude may be attributable to two main sources of information, one being the “Against Everything Groups” who always manage to demand/get unlimited exposure for presenting their views and the Second (and perhaps most important) a very deep and historically well deserved absence of trust in their government (s) to be appropriately forthcoming. These are quite static conditions and regrettably neither is likely to change much in the near to mid term..
We elect governments to decide who gets what in the economy. We expect a government to be composed of people who have the intelligence to make right choices and the courage to proceed once the right choice has been identified. Unfortunately, when a government lacks even the smallest iota of courage, we miss out on opportunities which could make the province stronger.
We elected the McNeil government, harboring great expectations because they talked a good fight while in opposition. But, instead of bold new moves to improve our economy, we are discovering that we elected a bunch of time-serving career politicians who only seem to care about being re-elected. They had no trouble giving themselves a pension after two years service in the legislature. Their decision to ban fracking highlighted their lack of courage to act on important choices.
This opportunity had the potential to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the provincial treasury, rural employment and the creation of a new industry worth billions. The attendance of a few hundred militant, loud, self-styled environmentalists at public hearings was enough scare off this lame excuse for a government. If the province had enacted regulations to ensure the safe operation of fracking ventures and hired enough enforcement personnel to assure safe operation, the main objections of the so-called environmentalists would have been extinguished. They have achieved their aim by getting what amounts to an outright ban for the next three to four years.
Effectively, the decision to indefinitely ban fracking is a vote for continuing our cycle of poverty.
The sooner we can find politicians with the courage to dare to act, to dare to take wise chances and to dare to seek prosperity, the sooner we will break out of our downward spiral to poverty. Unfortunately, the McNeil government is not the one we thought it would be.
Prosperity, anyone? Populism polled?
“The Minister says…that Nova Scotians aren’t ready to support fracking.”
One wonders about all the successful fracking ventures around the world… .
It’s not new. It’s proven.
Don’t stop the fracking, stop the “attitudes” which Ivany has pointed to.
Populism polled?
A very well reasoned article on fracking. We need the jobs and the royalties and western provinces can teach us how to regulate fracking. How do we get our government back on track; how do we get them to study and define the potential at least?
David Parkes | August 22, 2015 |
Wow Bill, of all the commentaries I have read about this issue by far yours is the most insightful. The narrowing the opposition to fracking into the process of obtaining a suitable “social contract” is very pointed. The comparison to Donkin is well stated. I feel our government has erected a 20 foot high cement barrier with armed guards when a stop sign would have sufficed on the road to energy exploration. I am reading the Wheeler report and no where in it does it propose a ban as the Minister suggests. He commented that he hasn’t stopped anyone from investing in NS because no one is looking to frack here. That’s a fair point on the surface. When you think about it, that very fact is also a perfect reason to not wade into the media spun rhetoric on fracking. I believe we’ve made our province an “anti-fracking” regime which will hurt us in the energy game. I really like Andrew Younger, but he got this one wrong.
Barry Cox | September 9, 2014 |
Bill: I am in favour of developing our shale gas and oil assets in a careful, professional way. As Joe Oliver said, there are thousands of wells in Canada. Why are we so scared to try? One thing I have not heard discussed is what kind of shale exists in N S…. As The Economist mag reported in August , Argentina has huge shale reserves,as confirmed by the US Energy Information Administration . My question is…has any competent independent body done a serious recent study of what amount of shale and what kind lies under our surface. Are we having these bitter comments based on any good information? Have our universities anything to say? Good column. Jim.
Jim Radford | September 6, 2014 |
Thanks Jim. Chapter 2 of Wheeler’s report provides a good summary of what is known, which is not a lot.
Bill | September 6, 2014 |
While there are arguments for or against tracking , the fact remains it is a process that can be measured . The vocal anti- fracking groups have been able to highjack the government on this one . Here again we have engineering degree granting subsidized universities that could be tasked to do a scientific based evaluation, yet we ignore that opportunity . The Board of Dalhousie should be embarrassed that with all their engineering “expertise ” that they have done nothing to better inform the public and government .
The Wheeler report was not very fact based . You could see that as Wheeler was getting questioned by the anti -fracking people that they were far better equipped with information than was Wheeler. His report was not at all a good report when he says that more study is needed. This was not a conclusion . He avoided making a conclusion based on the evidence and studies to date. Businesses make decisions all the time and know there are risks , so they plan to deal with the perceived risks .
If a drill site is chosen,seems to me the risks in that area can be assessed . According to the risks , they either get a permit or not and if the risk is there ,they have to post a bond or deposit money into a fund to cover potential damages . If there is no damage , then they get their money back .
This government is showing it has not learned to govern and that it can’t manage the bureaucracy .
The first step should have been to simply do the research and examine what has happened in those provinces where fracking has been and continues to be approved .
The public is only hearing the one side of the story and the scare tactics are making the politicians so nervous about votes that they have totally lost sight of the task .
The Premier has been boxed in by Younger . They can’t be that dumb to not realize a total “no” would not affect the future of any gas exploration in the Province . They know the offshore supply is decreasing so we are heading to increasing the amount of gas we import if we do not have another supply .
Surely with all the coal geology history of NS we know that gas is a part of that same geology and why not at least try . You can establish buffer zones , have bonds on deposit , have 24/7 monitoring when you at least try a few drills to go ahead .
No, MacNeil and Younger, can’t seem to see their job is to at least try , not run and hide .
Peter S | September 6, 2014 |
This is scary. Our provincial government is making important economic decisions based on public perceptions regardless of merit. If it submits to irrationality because to do otherwise would be unpopular, we are in deep trouble. We are being led in a “race to the bottom”.
Steve Chipman | September 5, 2014 |
It appears (to me at least) that the main underlining resistance to fracking ,at this juncture,may well be that Nova Scotians do not really know and understand all that much about it. In this regard , their current attitude may be attributable to two main sources of information, one being the “Against Everything Groups” who always manage to demand/get unlimited exposure for presenting their views and the Second (and perhaps most important) a very deep and historically well deserved absence of trust in their government (s) to be appropriately forthcoming. These are quite static conditions and regrettably neither is likely to change much in the near to mid term..
bob MacKenzie | September 5, 2014 |
We elect governments to decide who gets what in the economy. We expect a government to be composed of people who have the intelligence to make right choices and the courage to proceed once the right choice has been identified. Unfortunately, when a government lacks even the smallest iota of courage, we miss out on opportunities which could make the province stronger.
We elected the McNeil government, harboring great expectations because they talked a good fight while in opposition. But, instead of bold new moves to improve our economy, we are discovering that we elected a bunch of time-serving career politicians who only seem to care about being re-elected. They had no trouble giving themselves a pension after two years service in the legislature. Their decision to ban fracking highlighted their lack of courage to act on important choices.
This opportunity had the potential to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the provincial treasury, rural employment and the creation of a new industry worth billions. The attendance of a few hundred militant, loud, self-styled environmentalists at public hearings was enough scare off this lame excuse for a government. If the province had enacted regulations to ensure the safe operation of fracking ventures and hired enough enforcement personnel to assure safe operation, the main objections of the so-called environmentalists would have been extinguished. They have achieved their aim by getting what amounts to an outright ban for the next three to four years.
Effectively, the decision to indefinitely ban fracking is a vote for continuing our cycle of poverty.
The sooner we can find politicians with the courage to dare to act, to dare to take wise chances and to dare to seek prosperity, the sooner we will break out of our downward spiral to poverty. Unfortunately, the McNeil government is not the one we thought it would be.
Jon Coates | September 5, 2014 |
Prosperity, anyone? Populism polled?
“The Minister says…that Nova Scotians aren’t ready to support fracking.”
One wonders about all the successful fracking ventures around the world… .
It’s not new. It’s proven.
Don’t stop the fracking, stop the “attitudes” which Ivany has pointed to.
Populism polled?
Gordon a.... | September 5, 2014 |