Now's the time to talk like adults about energy, oil sands

Calgary Herald ^ | 2010-05-05 | Deborah Yedlin

[Clive]

The comment came during the question-and-answer period of Suncor's first annual meeting following its merger with Petro- Canada and probably was the last thing company president and chief executive Rick George would have expected.

And yet, there it was -- from the most unlikely source.

"My name is Clint Rooney. I am a United Church minister."

There was an audible gasp in the large room in the basement of the Telus Convention Centre as expectations rose that the oncoming commentary was going to refer to the 11 church groups that visited the oilsands a year ago.

Instead, what followed was positive, encouraging and collaborative.

George had given a speech last week in Toronto as part of a conference organized by the Canada 2020 Centre in which he spoke of his company's research efforts to find a solution to the issue of oilsands tailings ponds.

But George also talked of the need for a national energy strategy spearheaded by the government as part of a plan to address how the country uses energy.

And he's right.

Strip away the layers and the negative language faced daily by oilsands producers and at the heart of the matter, it's really about how we use energy -- and as George pointed out -- using less or being smarter about what we consume lies in what we invest in technology (which means investing in education) to solve this issue.

At the same time, he also said it wasn't Suncor's -- or Alberta's job -- alone to spearhead the dialogue across the country in dealing with the misconceptions about the oilsands.

Rooney went on to say that what in the last year has been very "encouraging to us in the Church" and he applauded the way Suncor received his group last year and how it was open to dialogue on the issues in the oilsands. What followed was just as surprising -- as Rooney wanted to know how the governments -- federal and provincial -- were engaging on the issue.

"The Churches are very interested in making the broad discussion happen," said Rooney.

While George said the governments understand the importance of the issue -- he also mentioned during his speech that it was time for an adult conversation on the oilsands, one built on facts and solutions, not one rooted in shrill arguments and name calling.

And the reality is that as abundant as the oilsands is not going to be shut down; the barrels will be produced for decades and playing an important role in meeting North America's energy demand. It's because of this that the dialogue must be constructive.

When the oilsands started production -- indeed there was one shareholder who also stood up to ask a question, saying his family had held shares in the resource since 1967 -- it was about getting the barrels out of the ground. It then progressed to producing the bitumen in a cost-effective way in order to make it economically feasible. From there it has morphed into what goes on today: a barrel produced that not only provides a decent rate of return, but one whose environmental footprint has been declining -- despite protestations to the contrary.

The critical common denominator in the progression of the life of the oilsands barrel -- not to mention the energy sector as a whole -- has been technological advancements.

One of those examples is the tailings pond process Suncor has developed, which George said would reduce the life of the ponds by decades.

"We know it's a big issue. It's visually intrusive. But we have new technology that will shorten the settling process and will eventually mean there will only be one pond open at a time, instead of several. That's the vision of where we want to drive that to," said George.

This fall, Suncor is expected to officially close the books on reclaiming Pond 1 from its first mine, which opened in 1967. For anyone counting, that's a 43-year process and there's no question a shorter time frame to get to completion of reclamation is in order.

What seems to be bringing an even greater sense of urgency is the situation unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, which will no doubt increase the cost of drilling in the deep waters offshore, not to mention the spectre of legislation that may also restrict access to the oil that lays below the surface.

Now, more than ever, the oilsands producers have to get it right. And even though George -- ever the gentleman in a dark blue suit, his red tie, Order of Canada pin and sporting a fresh haircut -- was being careful not to suggest one company's disaster was another's opportunity, it's tough not to conclude that this will in fact be the case.

[Clive]

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[G Larry]

Fine to have discussions about solutions, but this administration doesn’t want ANY solutions!

[Smokin' Joe]

One of those examples is the tailings pond process Suncor has developed, which George said would reduce the life of the ponds by decades.

I'd bet there is some flocculation going on in there somewhere...

Good to see reasonable people involved, instead of the "it'll be changed ruined foreverrrr" crowd. (Incidentally, they are right when they say "changed", but because nature is a dynamic, it would have been changing anyway, forever. Funny how that works.