Walking the walk

Eager to put a green stamp on its activities, the western Canadian conventional oil and gas business needs to boost its profile

Over the last few months—especially in the weeks leading up to and through the COP 15 conference in Copenhagen just before Christmas—the unconventional oil industry in Canada was in the crosshairs of environmental activists for the “outrageous” eco-disaster that was the “tar sands.” I won’t get into that argument—my colleague over at Oilsands Review, Deborah Jaremko, is carrying that ball quite admirably.

But with the spotlight shining on the unconventional oil business and its environmental track record, the comings and goings on this front by the conventional industry in western Canada gets somewhat lost in the shadows. That’s partly because of how bright the light is on the oilsands, but it’s mostly because the conventional industry in these parts has done a less than boisterous job of promoting its environmental initiatives and achievements.

Certainly, the stewardship program promoted by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has done wonders to shine a light on environmental achievements in the industry, but for the most part, CAPP is preaching to the choir when it issues its annual Stewardship Report. It’s not exactly required reading outside the towers of downtown Calgary.

On another front, the Alberta Emerald Foundation has been beating the proverbial bushes for close to 20 years, and has amassed nearly 2,000 environmental “feel-good” stories. But apart from a few mentions in big newspapers around the time its awards are handed out each June, the foundation works pretty much in obscurity, and there’s no guarantee that the oil and gas industry will be among Emerald Award recipients.

It’s quite clear that if the conventional oil and gas industry wants the wider world to know what it’s doing in the realm of environmental protection—whether that means reducing emissions, preserving fresh water, protecting carbon sinks, saving habitat—it needs to be just a tad more proactive in its preaching.

In this edition of Oilweek—our annual Green Issue—we tell a few of those stories: the list of initiatives Cenovus Energy is actively pursuing, the efforts Devon Canada is making to reduce its impact when it builds lease roads and installs pipelines, the work Trican Well Service is doing to reduce the environmental footprint of well completion activities, the steps Enbridge is taking to support alternative energy technologies like solar power and wind generation.

But we’re just scratching the surface. The industry itself needs to get out and tell its stories, to weekly newspapers, to consumer-oriented magazines, to the big dailies, the news magazines, and the television stations.

Only then might the harsh glare of the activists’ spotlight be dimmed somewhat, replaced instead by the softer focus of public awareness and acceptance.

— Dale Lunan