That headline is not click-bait, nor is it wishful thinking. In late May, Steve Williams, CEO of Suncor penned an editorial for the Calgary Herald (along with Justin Smith of the Calgary Chamber and Chris Ragan, an Economics professor at McGill University). In this editorial, Williams highlighted the importance of having the right climate policy, especially with the upcoming expiration of the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER), the internaitonal climate negotiations in Paris later this fall and public opinion in light of the new (left-wing) majority government in Alberta, Canada’s oil bastion.
Steve Williams Article in the Calgary Herald
As an employee of Suncor, and someone who believes in sustainable development of natural resources, I was glad to see Steve Williams declare his stand publicly. One of the reasons that I’m proud to work at Suncor is because the company walks the talk when it comes to its desire to balance resource development with environmental protection. Within Suncor, I have led a project team that studied our energy/steam management (energy balance and GHG emissions) in the Suncor Upgrader and made a series of recommendations to senior management (not just capital or expense related, but also behaviorial and procedural) to improve the then-state. I’m happy to note that several of those initiatives are now in place, with the capital aspects either underway or scheduled for near-term implementation. Again, like with everything, economics and efficiency had to be balanced for each of the recommended initiatives.
I’ve never been a fan of the sorts of recommendations (“stop drilling”, “stop generating”, etc) put out by environmental groups because they are often lacking in realism, clarity and scientific knowledge. The oil – excuse me, energy – industry needs to be in the driver’s seat regarding the energy/carbon conversation and it’s high time more leaders like Steve Williams and others (the leaders of Chevron, Shell, Cenovus and others have also expressed similar viewpoints) demonstrated this.
Implementing stricter rules around emissions and introducing a higher (and firmer) price on carbon will not hamper business in Alberta (or Canada) if done in a responsible way. This price should not be limited to oil/gas companies only, but should be broad-based. Carbon pricing will force companies to be more efficient, to implement new technology and above all, to be responsible stewards of the environment.