The Editor:
Real Change is a bright pathway forward for Saskatchewan, but sometimes tough questions need to be asked of the provincial government.
One of those questions would be, is the almost $1.4 billion carbon capture project at Estevan going to become the Sask. Party Government’s version of the Spudco disaster?
Boundary Dam, which is the source of the carbon, is only running at 40 instead of 80 per cent capacity, which means only 400,000 tonnes of captured carbon has been supplied to Cenovus Energy since the project was launched a year ago. This has meant the province has paid Canovus $12 million in penalties, with up to $6 million more possible by the end of 2015.
We want to know why the carbon capture project is costing the people of Saskatchewan money instead of generating a return for the people. Twelve to $18 million in losses for the project is a disaster on the scale of the $35 million Spudco fiasco.
What steps are being taken to prevent a repeat of these losses in 2016?
A Saskatchewan Green Party government would subject the carbon capture project to a cost-benefit analysis to pinpoint where the project is losing money, and where operations can be improved to prevent future losses. We note these losses and the $1.4 billion investment in carbon capture are not just small potatoes.
Real Change means fixing problems now for Saskatchewan people, not later.
Victor Lau
Leader, Saskatchewan
Green Party
Regina
