Letters To The Editor

 I wonder in amazement how long it will be before the government, business, and the country as a whole stand up to the continuous and ever-growing extortion tactics which native groups continuously use to get thier tentacles onto cash which by law, they have absolutely no entitlement to.  Threats of uprisings, road blockades, vandalism, public disobedience, even armed resistance all go unpunished, while laws of the land lay unenforced and in disregard for any disobedience flying under the banner of "native issues".   It sickens me to watch a small segment  of this society lay claim to vast tracts of lands, under the ridiculous assertions that they alone can care for the land or the environment.  I stand amazed at the fact that literally billions of dollars have flowed from the rest of the country to this supposedly uniquely principled and consciencious segment of the population, only to disappear without a trace in many instances, under the auspices of "self-determination" and "self-government" that these groups love so dearly.   The country needs to end the "special status" that is bestowed upon natives in Canada, and live up to the cornerstone that this country is supposedly based upon - EQUALITY OF ALL CITIZENS.   It will be the destruction of the nation if select groups, under threats of violence and public disobedience determine the future of this country, a country where some groups are currently more "equal" than others.  

........more computer simulations. Wonderful. Forecasters have a hard time predicting next week's weather using computer modeling. How accurate can this simulation be?

This article, in my opinion, is irresponsible and incomplete. It only shows one point of view and makes no mention of the Geology or science behind fracing. An important fact that is left out of these types of articles is that these water wells refered to were drilled into gas bearing zones to begin with and were not actually affected by the fracing operations that occur a mile deeper than the water wells were drilled.

This sounds like a grand communist plot for the government  to control all.

We pretty much all know how incompetent government is in relation to ability to run businesses. Just look at the health care system if you need proof.

What is wrong with free enterprise? What is wrong with the system we have ?

Scrap this idea before you bankrupt the industry.

How many times have we seen articles on how the depressed gas prices are a disaster for gas resource players? Clearly, there is much that is misunderstood by those that write these stories. Price is not the determining factor in resource plays. Price differential is: that is, the difference between price and cost. The major gas resource players can make money at it because they control costs more effectively than the oil players. Gas is easier to produce. Which is why the gas price is so low!

The "climate" has been changing ever since the beginning of time. Computer models of "weather" have a hard time predicting what will happen next week - how do the computer "climate" models manage to do it a thousand years into the future?

For someone who represents himself as educated and informed, making this suggestion reflects a huge gap in his understanding of royalties and taxation on crude oil and natural gas production.

The severence taxes levied by Texas and Oklahoma are in place primarily because those jurisdictions own very little of their oil and gas rights with them mostly owned by individuals.  As we learned through the Liberals National Energy Program and the "Our Fair Share" debate in Alberta, imposing a higher tax regime at the wellhead or the outlet valve will do nothing but impede the development of the resource and render the hoped for higher tax revenue moot.

And as for dedicating monies from such a tax to a 'green fund', this is politically very naive.  Its not working in B.C. for example, with their carbon tax levy on gasoline.  Those funds are supposed to be specifically directed and have ended up as part of general revenue.

Hydrocarbons will remain a portion of our energy generation.  The size of that portion will likely only reduce when technology is able to deliver other sources in an economically viable and competitive manner.  And to have those sources become economically viable and competitive is NOT the job of governments.  Only entrepreneurial effort and private enterprise are able to deliver sustainable change.

Did not the plane that did its emergency landing on the Hudson in NY CIty do so because it took on too many birds in the engines? How much are we going to fine them?

Finally Mr. Stelmach has made a comment that I agree with. However, just because two scientists (or groups of scientists) confirm that they are working from similar data, does not mean that they will agree on the interpretation of that very same data. Most scientific conclusions require some degree of projection, hypothesis, or interpretation of the relevant criteria or data, while some data deemed irrelevant to the outcome is not used in the final conclusion.   The selection of what is the relevant data can predetermine the outcome of many conclusions.

I was disappointed that your article failed to provide the TD depth of the Iona well. I was involved in drilling the previous deepest offshore well (Crimson - Offshore Nova Scotia), which had a water depth of 2100 m and a TD of 6700 m. It would have been interesting to compare them. As I recall, our well cost MANY "tens of millions" of dollars. But we did not scrimp on safety issues!

Dave Mackidd

Encana