Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Phillip Meintzer

@phillipmeintzer.bsky.social

990 followers 480 following 710 posts

Settler on Treaty 7 Land Trying to build a future that's worth living. 🌿 https://phillipmeintzer.medium.com/

phillipmeintzer.medium.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · May 7

A new story from @thetyee.ca shows that David Yager, the man responsible for Alberta’s new "mature" oil well cleanup scam, has deep connections to Premier Danielle Smith and a legacy of conflicts of interest - red flags everywhere. thetyee.ca/News/2025/05... #ABLeg #ABPoli #CDNPoli #YYC #YEG

An Alberta Energy Regulator’s Close Ties to Danielle Smith | The Tyee

David Yager calls himself the premier’s ‘special adviser.’ He also serves as board director for the supposedly arm’s-length AER.

thetyee.ca

2 77 100

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 2h

That's definitely part of the definition! IMO "mature" is being used as a catch-all for anything industry feels is unprofitable, even wells that are still producing marginally.

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 3h

🚨 ALBERTANS! Send a letter to your MLA rejecting the Mature Asset Strategy at the link below. Tell your MLA: You oppose this industry-drafted plan that puts taxpayers on the hook for BILLIONS in oil & gas cleanup costs. www.cleanupyourmess.ca/write-your-mla #ABLeg #ABPoli #CleanUpYourMess

Write to Your MLA

Send a digital letter to your MLA about the Mature Asset Strategy in under 2 minutes.

www.cleanupyourmess.ca

1 2 1

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 22h

from elbows up to warm embrace. it’s a betrayal of he told canadians to expect from him.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

"You are a transformative president" -- I regret to inform you that Mark Carney is kissing Trump's ass

19 40 180

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Wim Carton @wimcarton.bsky.social · 1d

The Long Heat is finally out from @versobooks.bsky.social today:

It deals with inter alia the promise of climate reversal, climate tipping points, the political economy of carbon removal and the very many antinomies of solar geoengineering.

www.versobooks.com/products/331...

The Long Heat

The world is crossing the 1.5°C global warming limit, perhaps exceeding 2°C soon after. What is to be done when these boundaries, set by the Paris Agreement, have been passed? In the overshoot era, sc...

www.versobooks.com

1 19 32

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

David Barrett @davidfor7.ca · 2d

Here we go! Advance voting is on from October 6 - 11. Elections Calgary is working hard to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to cast their ballot. Scroll through to see the locations and days for advance voting in (and around) Ward 7. #yyccc

1 4 9

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Charles Smith @profsmithsask.bsky.social · 2d

And the membership is united. The province can't push this aside as a greedy union. Recall how important teachers and education were to these governments during the pandemic. It is time to treat teachers and their work environments with the value they deserve.

Alberta teachers’ strike begins, affecting around 700,000 students

About 51,000 teachers walk off the job after province’s offer rejected by 90 per cent of union members

www.theglobeandmail.com

4 15

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Markham Hislop @markhamhislop.bsky.social · 4d

Orphan Well Costs Shifted to Alberta Taxpayers

RStar was hugely unpopular with Albertans, so @ABDanielleSmith brought it back with a different name, the Mature Asset Strategy.

Just another name for having taxpayers fund oil and gas well cleanup.
#ABleg
youtu.be/HLluYsC2X2E

Orphan Well Costs Shifted to Alberta Taxpayers

YouTube video by Energi Media

youtu.be

1 24 33

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 5d

🚨 Premier Smith's mandate letter to Energy Minister Brian Jean directs him to push thru the Mature Asset Strategy (MAS) despite growing opposition. MAS risks weakening cleanup standards, and shifting BILLIONS of industry's cleanup costs onto taxpayers. open.alberta.ca/dataset/b076... #ABLeg #ABPoli

1 7 7

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 5d

😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭😂😭

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Martin Z. Olszynski @molszyns.bsky.social · 5d

We’re kicking off day 1 of our Closure Liabilities in the Energy Sector Conference. And in about 1&1/2 hrs, @drewyewchuk.bsky.social and I will be posting our latest @ablawg.bsky.social re: Alberta’s Mine Financial Security Program (MFSP). It’s sort of a big deal. #ableg #cdnpoli

Blog title: The 2025 Mine Financial Security
Program Update: Security Collected for Aging Syncrude Mine Offers a First Estimate of Mine Closure Costs

7 9

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

People's Daily, China @pdchinanews.bsky.social · 8d

China's national social security fund posted an investment return of 8.1% in 2024, earning 218.42 billion yuan (about $30.72 billion), according to an annual report released Tuesday.

1 10

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Nora Loreto @nolore.bsky.social · 5d

Not only does this not reduce congestion, it increases it as it encourages there to be even more cars on the road! This is why bike lanes are smart urban planning for everyone.

Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 5d

I don't want to shock anyone, but I don't think that removing the bike lanes is going to improve congestion. The provincial government is putting people at risk for a few parking spots in midtown Toronto.

The documents also indicate that the government may reinstate on-street parking on Yonge Street, in the 400-metre section where the bike lane would be removed.

6 27

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 5d

The Government of Alberta: Begging oil & gas companies to "do the right thing" for 70+ years, when THEY have the power to set and enforce the rules lol. #ABLeg #ABPoli

1 8 27

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 5d

It's been a great week for sunrises and sunsets. #YYC

1 3

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Limón de Beauvoir @ottomanvampire.bsky.social · 5d

This is a policy choice

Da(N95)iella @sharpflower.bsky.social · 5d

This is so preventable.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Premature baby dies of measles in Alberta outbreak's 1st death | CBC News

Alberta is reporting its first measles death since outbreaks of the highly contagious illness began in March. The province says a baby, who was born prematurely after the mother became sick, died shor...

www.cbc.ca

1 14 28

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Plague Poems @plaguepoems.bsky.social · 5d

I was worried
upon seeing a study that found
“Nearly 7 in 10
COVID survivors tested
didn’t know
they had a dulled sense
of smell,”
but I was terrified
upon seeing the study note that
“olfactory dysfunction
is a strong early factor
associated
with neurodegenerative disease.”

36 120

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Jonnette Watson Hamilton @jwatsonhamilton.bsky.social · 7d

A fascinating (in the details) & depressing post about just how ineffective & captured-by-industry the Alberta Energy Regulator is. Another overwhelming pattern of regulatory failure in the oil & gas sector revealed, failure that Albertans will pay for with their wallets & health for generations.

Martin Z. Olszynski @molszyns.bsky.social · 8d

Better late than never: our 18 pp (!) analysis of #ableg's so-called Mature Asset Strategy (w/ Shaun Fluker and @drewyewchuk.bsky.social). TLDR: the MAS is a thinly disguised attempt to rewrite the origin story of Alberta's O&G closure liability crisis and to push more gov't support & deregulation.

ABlawg UCalgary @ablawg.bsky.social · 8d

New Post: The Mature Asset Strategy for Alberta’s Oil and Gas Closure Liability Crisis: Where there is Smoke [and Mirrors], there is Fire.

ablawg.ca/2025/09/30...…rs-there-is-fire/

9 18

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Martin Z. Olszynski @molszyns.bsky.social · 7d

T-minus 2 days until academics, lawyers, regulators, First Nations, eNGOs & others from Canada, the U.S., Australia & the U.K. gather at UCalgary Law. We’ve maxed out registration. If you weren’t able to register, look for an edited volume next yr & some @ablawg.bsky.social posts next week.

Poster for a conference on closure liabilities in the energy sector with a red stamp that says “sold out”

5 23

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Calgary Climate Hub @calgaryclimatehub.ca · 12d

RECEIPTS 3: The debate: who promised to pay for the mess and why shouldn't they pay for it now? discoverairdrie.com/articles/did...
#PolluterPays #CleanUpYourMess #StopTheScam #ABLeg #ABPoli #CDNPoli #YYC #YEG #MatureAssetsStrategy

Didsbury town hall highlights debate over Alberta oil and gas cleanup plan

Critics warned Alberta’s Mature Asset Strategy would shift billions in oil and gas cleanup costs onto taxpayers, citing liability estimates of $60 billion to $130 billion. The warning came ahead of an...

discoverairdrie.com

1 4 9

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Calgary Climate Hub @calgaryclimatehub.ca · 12d

RECEIPTS 2: Albertans "On The Hook" #PolluterPays #CleanUpYourMess #ABLeg #ABPoli #CDNPoli #YYC #YEG ecojustice.ca/news/vague-i...
#PolluterPays #CleanUpYourMess #ABLeg #ABPoli #CDNPoli #YYC #YEG

Ecojustice reacts to Alberta’s Mature Asset Strategy

Vague industry-led recommendations could leave Albertans on the hook for oil and gas industry’s legal liabilities, Ecojustice says

ecojustice.ca

1 3 7

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Calgary Climate Hub @calgaryclimatehub.ca · 12d

RECEIPTS 1: It's a RAW DEAL for #RuralAlberta and they KNOW IT.
#PolluterPays #CleanUpYourMess #ABLeg #ABPoli #CDNPoli #YYC #YEG
thenarwhal.ca/alberta-oil-...

Alberta’s oil and gas legacy is a ‘gigantic problem’: top political staffer | The Narwhal

Alberta’s Mature Asset Strategy aims to deal with the oil and gas industry’s unpaid taxes and orphaned wells. A pitch in Warburg didn’t go as planned

thenarwhal.ca

1 7 6

Reposted by Phillip Meintzer

Calgary Climate Hub @calgaryclimatehub.ca · 9d

Is Canada any different? #MarkCarney #cdnpoli #ClimateChange

Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 9d

Our tax dollars being used to prop up a dying industry (that is well documented to be one of the key contributors to the climate crisis). Anyone have a good figure showing all the coal money that flowed into the Trump Campaign that they can post here?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9d

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Fox: "We're announcing today expanded programs to help the American coal industry. We're helping it because for years it has been under assault. It was out of fashion with the chardonnay set in San Francisco, Boulder, and NYC ... coal just makes the world go round."

5 8

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 7d

⏰ TOMORROW NIGHT: Don't let oil & gas companies stick Albertans with their cleanup bill! Oct 2 | 7PM MT | Free Virtual Town Hall

486 people have already registered!

Secure your spot here: www.cleanupyourmess.ca/oct2-townhall

#ABLeg #ABPoli #YYC #YEG #CleanUpYourMess

9 13

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 7d

"Like the previous (notorious) R-Star proposal that was wildly unpopular with Albertans, these MAS recommendations effectively reward the oil and gas sector for failing to fulfill their legally required closure obligations." ablawg.ca/2025/09/30/t... #ABleg #ABPoli #CleanUpYourMess #YYC #YEG

The Mature Asset Strategy for Alberta’s Oil and Gas Closure Liability Crisis: Where there is Smoke [and Mirrors], there is Fire

By: Martin Olszynski, Drew Yewchuk, and Shaun Fluker Matter Commented On: Alberta’s Mature Asset Strategy: What we Heard and Recommendations Report, April 3, 2025 PDF Version: The Mature Asset Stra…

ablawg.ca

7 9

Phillip Meintzer @phillipmeintzer.bsky.social · 7d

There's NO such thing as "progressive" or "ethical" or "green" investments. Investing is premised on the production of surplus value (e.g. to make more $$$ than you start with), and surplus value comes from: 1) the exploitation of workers, and 2) the exploitation of nature. Profits ARE exploitation.

2 1