Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
REGINA – The Saskatchewan Green Party propose to “Make Green Jobs the future of Saskatchewan’s economy by transitioning away from fossil fuels,” while financing its extensive socialist policy platform by modelling Norway which applies “a whopping 78 percent total tax” on oil and gas revenues.
Pipeline Online had sent request to each of the parties taking part in this October’s general election, but no response was received from the Saskatchewan Green Party. As with the other parties, Pipeline Online is posting all available policies related to energy. This is every point in their 62 page policy platform, available here, which refers to energy.
Notably, it includes five pages discussing the Greens opposition to small modular reactors. And the policy document closes by saying on the last page, “How do we pay for it? The Saskatchewan Green Party is dedicated to building a prosperous future for our province. It is time to raise royalty rates in the oil & gas sector to levels that truly reflect the value of our resources. We would use Norway as an example. Norway has a 51 percent tax on petroleum-related income, on top of the 27 percent income tax. That amounts to a whopping 78 percent total tax. This is put into a fund to benefit all citizens.”
That page does not list any other major revenue source, or indeed any revenue source at all, other than heavily taxing oil and gas, the same oil and gas earlier in the document the party promises to transition away from. If the party does succeed in “transitioning away from fossil fuels,” (Page 17) it offers no other source of revenue on the “How do we pay for it?” page (Page 61).
Here’s the energy points from the platform, verbatim:
Strengthen Local
Communities and Economies
The Saskatchewan Green Party’s goal is to create an economy which enhances the quality of life for all citizens, revitalizes rural Saskatchewan, and respects and nurtures the human and natural capital of our province.
We need to rapidly increase our production of renewable energy, strengthen and rebuild the local farming sector, and build our green industries. While we grow our green economy, we must also move to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, reduce our consumption, and reduce our waste.
Green MLAs will:
· Bring green businesses and industries to Saskatchewan
· Encourage initiatives to provide secure sources of energy to Saskatchewan, including a feed-in tariff
· Treat climate action as job action.
· Make Green Jobs the future of Saskatchewan’s economy by transitioning away from fossil fuels.
· Retrain workers leaving the oil and gas industry while protecting pensions, benefits, and wages.
· Launch the reclamation job boom:
· Reclaim the over 600 orphaned oil and gas wells and 36,000 inactive wells; this will create an estimated 10,000 jobs per year.
· Sharply increase mandatory payments by polluters into an Orphan Well Fund.
· Mitigate the environmental damage caused by abandoned oil and gas wells
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
Oil, Gas & Mining Sector, Royalties & Workers
The wealth of Saskatchewan belongs to all residents, not a select few.
Corporations and the rich must pay their fair share in taxes and royalties. The Saskatchewan Green Party would institute enforcement, opening the door to paying down environmental liabilities, boosting employment, and filling the coffers, not to mention reigning in the high cost of living.
Saskatchewan will take back control of our resources and restore our crown corporations.
Mismanagement of public funds is preventing the government from serving the Saskatchewan people effectively and hampering the prospects for our province.
Green MLAs will ensure a just transition for energy sector workers
· Ensure Saskatchewan has independent review boards that work in the public interest and are truly independent of the industries they are regulating.
· Enforce regulations to make polluters clean up the messes they create and pay sizable fines. Resolve judicially the harm done to the health and safety of Saskatchewan residents and the environment.
· End the SaskParty’s reward to oil companies for polluting Saskatchewan’s environment and for remediating wells they are already legally obliged to remediate.
· Increase royalties in resource development, restoring rates to their prior level, thereby increasing available revenues and creating a surplus for savings and investments.
· Tax the Rich: Implement a steeply progressive income tax rate, lowering taxes for low earners while increasing them for high earners, particularly the highest, e.g., taxing incomes over $1 million at a rate of 40%.
· Stop corporate profiteering. Introduce a cap on excess profits from resource development and distribute the benefits of oil and gas industry profits more evenly, and fund mitigation of its harms. Thus helps ensure all Saskatchewan people enjoy a good standard of living.
· Use excess funds exclusively for projects or purposes that will improve the lives of Saskatchewan people, instead of sending this excess to corporate executives and international shareholders.
· Invest in workers during boom times to prepare them for a bust by creating government-funded programs to ensure workers in the energy sector have the necessary skills, pensions, and seniority transfer options to transition to other industries when the boom times end.
· Integrate fossil fuel industry cleanup, as an important part of the transition away from reliance and towards a sustainable energy future.
· Create government-funded programs to put unemployed riggers and idle equipment to work cleaning up the legacy infrastructure left behind by the energy industry.
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
Energy Security, the Climate Crisis and the Environment
Saskatchewan will be profoundly affected by climate change. Through innovative policy and establishing secure energy supplies, we can position ourselves economically for an energy future that is robust, sustainable, safe and affordable.
Saskatchewan must develop a viable plan to move beyond the fossil fuel economy.
Saskatchewan gets most of its electricity by burning oil, gas and coal. This produces greenhouse gases and other air contaminants, and importing some of these ups our carbon footprint.
As more and more information points to the environmental damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels, Saskatchewan is targeting a 31% gain in crude oil production to some 600,000 b/d by 2030 according to a 2023 interview on S&P Global with Sask Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter.
With the impact of rising levels of greenhouse gases and the level of dependence on insecure sources of fossil fuels in Saskatchewan, the time to transition to secure renewable energy is now.
Transportation is the largest user of refined petroleum products in the province.
Much of the province does not have affordable public transportation and it offers little opportunity for safe, effective bike use.
The switch to alternate energy sources in Saskatchewan should begin as soon as possible. Conservation measures are by far the cheapest and most doable steps. There is also great potential in co-generation, where energy, especially heat that would normally be wasted from a commercial operation, is recovered for use.
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
The Green Party strategy is designed to make Saskatchewan self-reliant in a variety of clean, sustainable energy supplies indefinitely into the future.
New forms of energy must be developed and integrated into our society. Thus far, wind has been explored extensively while little attention has been paid to other viable alternative sources such as geothermal and solar.
Government can be instrumental in assisting the transition from fossil fuels, and in ensuring that energy security and affordability are protected and maintained for all Saskatchewan people.
To facilitate this transition to a more secure energy future a Green government would establish a Fee and Dividend Energy Security Plan.
Fee and Dividend Energy Security Plan
To internalize the social cost of carbon we propose an initial fee on the CO2 content of fossil fuels, increasing every year. Accounting for the true cost of carbon-based fuels creates a level-playing field for all sources of energy, and informs consumers of the true cost-comparison of various fuels when making purchase decisions. A small amount of the revenue from the carbon fee would be dedicated to stimulating alternative energy capacity and enhancing our public transportation system.
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
The lowest-income earner will immediately see the benefits of reduced energy costs from solar.
Through reinstating the Solar Net Metering System, and including the cost of retrofitting and installation, the vast majority of households would receive more than they will pay for energy costs.
This will stimulate the local economy, create good, long-term jobs, protect family budgets, allow households to make independent choices about their energy usage, and position Saskatchewan to be a world leader in clean energy technologies.
Resource exploitation and the climate crisis are putting the health and wealth of all Saskatchewan people, especially those belonging to marginalized communities, at risk.
The Saskatchewan Green Party will ensure that corporate polluters pay for the damage they cause to human life and our natural environment.
We will also create and enforce a framework for a fair energy transition that prioritizes workers and Indigenous communities, in accordance with the guidelines set out in the IPCC Synthesis Report.
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
Green MLAs will:
· Launch a just transition away from economy-based high emitting industries, with a focus on ensuring energy workers receive assistance to retrain and achieve new skills.
· Decarbonize electricity production by replacing coal and gas power plants with low-carbon sources like solar, wind, and other green energy.
· Promote active and public transportation alternatives while continuing the transition from internal combustion engines to electric equivalents.
· Mandate sustainable construction and fund retrofits to improve the energy efficiency of existing building stock.
· Expand Level 3 charging for electric vehicles (EVs) into rural Saskatchewan, tourist destinations, and provincial parks.
· Prohibit hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the importation of the fluid waste from hydraulic fracturing in other provinces coming into Saskatchewan for treatment, storage, or disposal
Nuclear power is not the solution to the climate crisis.
The Saskatchewan Green Party is the ONLY political party in this province standing firmly against the proposed Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.
SaskPower (by way of the SaskParty) is moving ahead with a fleet of GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. They see the Diefenbaker Lake and Estevan areas as sites big enough for at least two reactors, and they are envisioning four SMNRs in the province by 2042.
Here are some facts showing why we oppose SMNRs:
First, The Planned SMRs have never been approved by any Nuclear Regulator’ The GE Hitachi BWRX 300-SMR has never been built! It is a new design, still in the “conceptual phase”. The Inter-Provincial strategy actually calls for licensing regulation short-cuts for SMRs to fast-track approvals. This lack of thorough ongoing study jeopardizes our safety and health. Saskatchewan is not a testing ground for untried nuclear technology.
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
No to SMNRs
Second, Saskatchewan is a drought-prone province and SMNRs require massive amounts of water.
· Nuclear reactors and stored nuclear waste must be cooled to prevent meltdowns. Lake Diefenbaker and/or the Rafferty Reservoir would have to absorb the heat. This would result in negative impacts on water quality, fishing, biodiversity, recreation and irrigation. (And this is the same water source the SaskParty is proposing for their increased Diefenbaker irrigation project!)
· Lake Diefenbaker supplies drinking water for a whopping 70% of Saskatchewan’s population. Radioactive contamination of this water source would have a truly devastating impact on our province; not only does the Lake supply the greater part of our drinking water, but it also supplies agricultural water – so much our farming community would also be unable to sell their products should contamination occur. It should also be noted that both of our water sources flow into Manitoba and the USA, so contamination would be a national and international issue, not purely affecting our province.
· The amount of water in the Souris River Basin varies tremendously from year to year; the reservoirs don’t always fill, but SMNR’s will require cooling water constantly.
· We would like to clearly state that due to the urgent need for water for cooling in nuclear reactors for safety reasons, our already strained water supply in this province would have to go to these reactors FIRST! So let’s not kid ourselves, my friends: that puts the reactors ahead of human drinking water, irrigation needs, animal agriculture, and recreational water needs.
· On the basis of water issues alone, nuclear reactors are a terrible choice for our drought-prone province. Climate change is going to exacerbate the current issues: there is guaranteed to be more evaporation, much more serious drought and higher temperatures. Possibly we would simply run out of water for these SMRs after spending a truly inconceivable amount of money on them.
· Also, each of the four planned Saskatchewan BWRX-300 SMRs will emit 33 trillion becquerels (Bq) of radioactive gases into the atmosphere every single year.
· Each SMR will also emit 732 million Bq of radioactive hydrogen (tritium) annually. Tritium can cause cancer and birth defects when inhaled or swallowed.
· The deadliest element known, plutonium, would be contained in the high-level nuclear waste produced.
· Spent fuel isn’t “used up” by nuclear reactors – nuclear fission creates new, even more deadly radioactive chemicals within the spent fuel bundles. (Spent fuel is more radioactive than new fuel bundles).
· Each BMRX-300 SMR needs 77.76 tonnes of Enriched Uranium fuel every single year, which will then result in 5,000 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste over the reactor’s lifetime.
· The highly radioactive buildings and equipment would be left behind when SMR’s are decommissioned. The waste from the buildings and the spent fuel on-site will emit radiation for thousands of years. Our great-greatgrandchildren will be harmed by radiation from waste that they receive no benefit from, nor do those future generations have any say in this decision so consequential for them. The only way those future children have a say is through us, right now.
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001
How do we Pay for it?
The Saskatchewan Green Party is dedicated to building a prosperous future for our province. It is time to raise royalty rates in the oil & gas sector to levels that truly reflect the value of our resources. We would use Norway as an example. Norway has a 51 percent tax on petroleum-related income, on top of the 27 percent income tax. That amounts to a whopping 78 percent total tax. This is put into a fund to benefit all citizens.
The fund is for the citizens of Norway. “The aim of the fund is to ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources so that this wealth benefits both current and future generations.” Today the fund is worth nearly $275,000 for every citizen of Norway.
By valuing our resources in Saskatchewan properly, we will inject billions of dollars into our treasury, enabling us to fund the vital initiatives in this platform.
There is proactive savings when we eradicate poverty, reduce emergency room visits by helping people with better health interventions earlier, end homelessness, reduce crime, streamline services, mitigate disasters and create healthier communities. We are the party that focuses on the systemic solutions that will boost our economy and end poverty.
How can we afford not to?
- 0083 Michener Allen Industrial October 240083 Michener Allen Industrial October 24
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click
- 0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline0082 CsHM 2024 Pipeline
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001