In theory Alberta also has a program about orphaned oil wells as well, but they're having trouble keeping up:
Last year, the OWA estimated it would take until 2036 to clean up all the orphans. That timeline has now been extended, since it will more likely be between 2037 and 2040, said OWA president Lars DePauw in an interview with CBC News.
As of March 2023, oil and gas companies owe rural municipalities $268 million in unpaid taxes;[17] they owe landowners "tens of millions in unpaid lease payments".[18] Original owners of what are now orphan wells "failed to fulfill their responsibility for costly end-of-life decommissioning and restoration work"; some sold these wells "strategically to insolvent operators".[18] Landowners suffer both "environmental and economic consequences" of having these wells on their property.[18] OWA funding is underfunded by at least several hundred million.[18] The total estimate for cleaning up all existing sites is as much as $260 billion. Remediation is paid for through federal and provincial bailouts, a PPP violation.[18]
Has always seemed like a policy failure to not just charge those fees at the point of sale and then fund a robust waste disposal program for the community.
It is easier to do with a clear funding stream. Having it happen at point of sale means that funding can keep pace with consumption. Ideally you would also have different fees based on the difficulty of processing the item and also some type of redemption fee to help incentivize people to properly dispose of the items.
Comments
Disposal/recycling fees should be applied to all products.
Cleanup costs should be applied to all coal mines, but we didn’t bother with that either.
Actually...
https://www.aer.ca/regulations-and-compliance-enforcement/li...
(Other Canadian provinces have stronger programs, but still...)
In theory Alberta also has a program about orphaned oil wells as well, but they're having trouble keeping up:
* https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bakx-owa-seqouia-albe...
And:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_wells_in_Alberta,_Canad...
"Privatize profits, socialize costs."
100% we should charge for long term environmental impacts.
Start with gasoline and diesel first.
Has always seemed like a policy failure to not just charge those fees at the point of sale and then fund a robust waste disposal program for the community.
Yes, though the second part is the more important and also possible without the other.
It is easier to do with a clear funding stream. Having it happen at point of sale means that funding can keep pace with consumption. Ideally you would also have different fees based on the difficulty of processing the item and also some type of redemption fee to help incentivize people to properly dispose of the items.
I will believe that's the goal when I see the tax going directly to aid in disposal.
In this case it should be a dedicated fund for future disposal, as the majority of panels in service right now won’t need disposal for many years.