New Alberta energy minister to keep coal moratorium, considers well cleanup breaks
![Oil pumpjack, well site A pumpjack draws out oil and gas from a well head as the sun sets near Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world and is the world's fourth largest oil producer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2022/10/31/oil-pumpjack--well-site-1-6132578-1667240929653.jpg)
Alberta's new energy minister has promised to maintain an order protecting the Rocky Mountains in the province from coal development, for now.
However, Peter Guthrie says his department is already working on a controversial program to give oil companies breaks on their royalties to clean up old wells.
Speaking at an Edmonton press conference Tuesday on funding for a hydrogen project, Guthrie said he has no plans to withdraw an order from the previous minister that restored protections for the Rockies from open-pit coal mines.
"It will stand," he said.
The 2021 order, made by Sonya Savage, restored protections to those beloved landscapes after encouragement from the United Conservative Party government led to a series of mountaintop removal mine proposals from coal companies. Those proposals were widely opposed.
New Premier Danielle Smith has mused about reopening the coal mine debate. Guthrie wouldn't say how long he'll keep the current order in place.
"I don't have an answer on that," he said. "But for now, there are no changes planned."
At the same press conference, Guthrie confirmed his department is studying an industry proposal intended to encourage the cleanup of old wells and drilling of new ones by granting royalty credits on new production based on remediation spending. Estimates suggest that if the so-called RStar program grants the $20 billion in credits industry is seeking, Alberta taxpayers would forgo $5 billion in revenue.
"We are working internally on this," Guthrie told reporters, adding any announcement is "weeks if not months away."
In an email, Alberta Energy spokesman Scott Johnston confirmed Guthrie's statement.
"We are exploring ways to help clean up some of the most expensive projects and older inactive oil and gas sites by providing more incentives to industry," he wrote. "No decisions have been made yet."
The RStar proposal has been widely criticized by energy economists, who say it would transfer money to companies who don't need it to do work that most are doing anyway. They point out energy companies are already legally obliged to clean up their mess.
The plan was also rebuffed during Savage's tenure as energy minister. She wrote then that RStar wouldn't fit within Alberta's current royalty structure and would clearly violate the polluter-pay principle, one of the foundations of environmental regulation.
Smith, however, spoke strongly in support of RStar when she was a lobbyist for the Alberta Enterprise Group, an influential association of some of the province's largest businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.5346613.1719853464!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
If you qualify for this tax credit, you can expect a payment in your bank account this week
The next quarterly GST/HST tax credit payment is expected to go out this week, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.
U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for official, not private acts
The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for any actions that were within his constitutional powers as president, but can for private acts, in a landmark ruling recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
This 12-year-old memorized the periodic table at age two. He's heading to NYU after finishing high school in just two years
Recent high school graduate Suborno Isaac Bari, 12, plans to start studying math and physics at New York University in the fall, but he’s already got his ambitious sights set on beginning a doctoral program.
On July 1, 1916, a generation of Newfoundlanders died in one brief battle
Millions are celebrating Canada’s 157th birthday this year -- as they do every year -- with fireworks, food and family. In Newfoundland, it is a day of mourning for one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.
These ultraprocessed foods may shorten your life, study says
Eating higher levels of ultraprocessed food may shorten lifespans by more than 10 per cent, according to a new, unpublished study of over 500,000 people whom researchers followed for nearly three decades.
Judge calls Jeffrey Epstein 'most infamous pedophile in American history' as he releases transcripts
A Florida judge released Monday afternoon the transcripts of a 2006 grand jury investigation that looked into sex trafficking and rape allegations made against the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Eddie Murphy is still stung by that David Spade joke on 'Saturday Night Live'
Eddie Murphy is reflecting on some of the “cheap shots” he feels he’s taken over the years.
Possible indecent gesture at Euro 2024 game under investigation
England star Jude Bellingham is being investigated by UEFA over a potentially offensive gesture made during a European Championship win against Slovakia.
This smiling robot has a face covered in 'living' skin
The soft, pink blob stares at the camera with glassy eyes — before pulling its face into a dimpled smile.