Who is the Hydro Fracking regulator in Alberta?
The so-called regulator for oil and gas development, in Alberta, is supposed to be the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB). Apparently they have become so incompetent even the oil and gas industry have become disillusioned with them. Their blanket industry association (CAPP) has had to step in and try to promote a slate of “best practice” guidelines for their members! The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) released a new set of guidelines for hydro fracking, with a voluntary compliance suggestion, to its membership on January 30th, 2012!
The ERCB has had a long record of taking its marching orders from CAPP anyway, so it shouldn’t take long until they adopt the proposed guidelines, as their own? It sure is good we have CAPP around to write up some “rules”……because no one else is doing much of anything!
Perhaps it is time for the Alberta government to just eliminate the middleman and turn all regulatory over site over to CAPP? Maintaining the façade of a public “watchdog” is an expensive undertaking in these days of government deficits? Premier Redford is going to need to do some fancy footwork reducing the civil service to a level Alberta can support……..what better way than eliminating a useless regulator, that really doesn't do anything, anyway?
We would hope CAPP takes their new responsibilities to heart and at least supplies us with a minimum bit of protection? A CAPP emergency hotline would be a good first idea…..especially if someone actually answers the phone when a hydro frack job blows out an H2S well? Right away that would be a positive improvement over the present clods at the ERCB!
Another real benefit would be when some little nightmare happens out in the patch, the Alberta media could just go right to the source instead of being subject to the tortureous process of listening to the ERCB, ducking and weaving, trying to avoid the fact that they screwed it up once again!
The press could just phone up CAPP and say “Hey, what happened out there?”…….and CAPP could just say “Don’t worry…..nothing happened. Go back to sleep. We’ll send some advertising money over tomorrow. Thanks for calling.”
This would solve a lot of problems? The editorial boards at the major papers wouldn’t have to worry about angering the Alberta Energy Minister by printing the truth, and the public could remain blissfully ignorant about the **** and pillage happening out in the sticks! No more disturbing pictures of dead cows, or taps on fire, or blowouts, or oil lying all over the place, or other such disturbing scenes that might cause them to question just what in the hell are we doing to our environment!
I am sure CAPP would be willing? I’m sure Energy Minister Ted Morton would be thrilled to eliminate some more government expenses, “onerous” regulations, and bad publicity...........why he might even get another chance to become Premier!!!!
Let’s get her done!
(*this is supposed to be satire….it is not a position we support!)
ASRG
The so-called regulator for oil and gas development, in Alberta, is supposed to be the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB). Apparently they have become so incompetent even the oil and gas industry have become disillusioned with them. Their blanket industry association (CAPP) has had to step in and try to promote a slate of “best practice” guidelines for their members! The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) released a new set of guidelines for hydro fracking, with a voluntary compliance suggestion, to its membership on January 30th, 2012!
The ERCB has had a long record of taking its marching orders from CAPP anyway, so it shouldn’t take long until they adopt the proposed guidelines, as their own? It sure is good we have CAPP around to write up some “rules”……because no one else is doing much of anything!
Perhaps it is time for the Alberta government to just eliminate the middleman and turn all regulatory over site over to CAPP? Maintaining the façade of a public “watchdog” is an expensive undertaking in these days of government deficits? Premier Redford is going to need to do some fancy footwork reducing the civil service to a level Alberta can support……..what better way than eliminating a useless regulator, that really doesn't do anything, anyway?
We would hope CAPP takes their new responsibilities to heart and at least supplies us with a minimum bit of protection? A CAPP emergency hotline would be a good first idea…..especially if someone actually answers the phone when a hydro frack job blows out an H2S well? Right away that would be a positive improvement over the present clods at the ERCB!
Another real benefit would be when some little nightmare happens out in the patch, the Alberta media could just go right to the source instead of being subject to the tortureous process of listening to the ERCB, ducking and weaving, trying to avoid the fact that they screwed it up once again!
The press could just phone up CAPP and say “Hey, what happened out there?”…….and CAPP could just say “Don’t worry…..nothing happened. Go back to sleep. We’ll send some advertising money over tomorrow. Thanks for calling.”
This would solve a lot of problems? The editorial boards at the major papers wouldn’t have to worry about angering the Alberta Energy Minister by printing the truth, and the public could remain blissfully ignorant about the **** and pillage happening out in the sticks! No more disturbing pictures of dead cows, or taps on fire, or blowouts, or oil lying all over the place, or other such disturbing scenes that might cause them to question just what in the hell are we doing to our environment!
I am sure CAPP would be willing? I’m sure Energy Minister Ted Morton would be thrilled to eliminate some more government expenses, “onerous” regulations, and bad publicity...........why he might even get another chance to become Premier!!!!
Let’s get her done!
(*this is supposed to be satire….it is not a position we support!)
ASRG
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