Carbon Capture Dead in Alberta

[ASRG]

Premier Redford has ended the policy of reducing greenhouse gasses through C02 capture and storage. Unfortunately she intends to continue with the projects that Stelmach rammed through in the final days of his leadership, rather than negotiate the end of these $1.6 billion white elephants!
Now with a change in CCS policy the expropriation of private property (the pore space under your land) can no be longer justified, in any possible way, for the "public good".
Alberta Surface Rights Group will be asking the Redford government to move rapidly to restore our property, by rescinding Bill 24 (Carbon Capture and Storage Statutes Amendment Act).
Who knows.......if the government rescinds Bill 24, it may also restore our faith, that in Alberta, we are indeed governed with a respect for private property rights and the rule of law?

[wilagro]

Don't bet on it...my faith in the PC government of Alberta died about thirty years ago.

[farmers_son]

There is a good source of information on Alberta's CCP at:

http://www.solutionsstarthere.ca/what-is-ccs/

To me the Carbon Capture Program looked like an excuse to funnel $2 Billion into the pockets of big energy. Redford should cancel this waste of taxpayer dollars as another example of bad decision making by the Stelmach government. $2 Billion is a lot of money and Albertans should be outraged at how taxpayer dollars flow to the rich and greedy energy sector.

[ASRG]

Without a doubt the Carbon capture scheme was designed as a freebie for enhanced oil recovery......while being sold as a responsible way to reduce green houses gasses.
The thing most people missed was the precedent set by the Bill 24 legislation, which expropriated real property without compensation and no recourse to the courts. The alberta government confiscated your real property (pore space)without your consent. In reality they confiscated your land....and they didn't pay one red cent for it....and you can't take them to court!
People like to think they only took useless miniscule spaces thousands of meters below the surface.......but that isn't what the legislation says? They took ALL the pore space....including the space crop roots grow in! Was their intent to steal your land....probably not....but the legislation is there and a future government just might decide they want it! We need to rescind this legislation.

[per]

In Ontario where landowners lease the pore spaces to NG companies for Natural Gas storage it seems to be real enough property. If they are willing to remove property out of your deeded holdings imagine how easy it would be for them to extinguish a statutory consent.

[farmers_son]

I found this paper. Although it is a discussion of pore space in the U.S. the issues seem to be similar. The paper touches upon case law and subsurface trespass.

Will Redford reverse what was really an outrageous grab of landowners property rights? I have my doubts...most farmers do not realize what was taken from them and they have not made it an issue.

[farmers_son]

Sorry I forgot to include the link to the paper...

http://leg.mt.gov/content/committees/interim/2007_2008/energy_telecom/assigned_studies/co2page/PropertyRights.pdf

<a href="http://leg.mt.gov/content/committees/interim/2007_2008/energy_telecom/assigned_studies/co2page/PropertyRights.pdf
">Click Here</a>

[ASRG]

Farmers son.......believe me we are working on it! We are in almost constant contact with Premier Redford!
Will we need support......undoubtably
Politics is a game.....no support-no noiose......nothing will happen?
A whole lot of noise......things start to move!
We are going to make that NOISE!

[littledoggie]

Don't forget that Redford and all the PC MLA's voted "yes" for Bill 24 and many other pieces of legislation that give them complete and total power. It won't make one bit of difference to my vote if they rescind this. What this government really needs is strong opposition in the legislature. Alberta will never go liberal or NDP, so you know who that leaves. In the next election, vote for strong opposition because the PC's won't be overthrown in one go.