Oil, Water, and the Ethics of Regulation

Here’s a nice example of a regulatory move that balances competing values. It’s also a move that couldn’t plausibly be done at all without substantial input from industry regarding feasibility. >>
New rules for oilsands fluid tailings, river water management

The provincial government has brought in new rules for oilsands tailings ponds and water use it says will protect Albertans’ environmental and economic interests.

But environmental groups and other critics were quick to slam what they see as the shortcomings of the efforts.

A new tailings framework is aimed at managing fluid tailings volumes during and after the life of oilsands mines, while a surface water quantity management framework will impose water-use limits for current and future operators of oilsands mines….