Pickens: natural gas abundance “divine intervention”
Speaking at Texas Christian University, oil tycoon and alternative energy proponent T. Boone Pickens said the fact that the United States imports almost 70 percent of its oil from overseas is a problem that needs to be addressed today so that younger generations arenÂ’t strapped with an expensive bill and no way out.
The Oklahoma-born businessman, who launched the Pickens Plan in July 2008, has been a staunch supporter of weaning the U.S. off foreign oil and onto new energy resources, such as natural gas, wind energy and solar power.
“We’re the ones that have everything messed up on the use of oil because 4 percent of the people using 25 percent of the oil seems somewhat unfair,” Pickens said to a packed house in TCU’s Brown-Lupton University Union ballroom. “There are a lot of reasons for it, we’re more highly industrialized, but the world is not going to see it quite like that. What we need to do is get on our own resources.”
The first step toward reducing the nationÂ’s dependence on foreign oil is converting 350,000 18-wheeler trucks to natural gas, which Pickens said could reduce imports by as much as 4 percent. The government should provide incentives for fleet owners to make the conversion from diesel to natural gas, such as an $80,000 credit, he said.
The fuel to supply the 18-wheeler trucks, and other fleet vehicles, would come from the natural gas shale plays spread across the United States.
Pickens said the abundance of natural gas shale plays – the Big 4 being the Barnett, Haynesville, Marcellus and Fayetteville shales – is nothing short of “divine intervention,” or the solution to a problem at a time when the United States needs help.
“The resource you have that can solve the problem for you is natural gas,” Pickens said. “You have an abundance of natural gas, where fortunately it’s clean, it’s cheap and it’s ours. If you look over at the Iranians, they’re switching all of their vehicles over to natural gas. Why? For the same reasons I just said … The Russians are doing that also, and building a number of natural gas fueling stations in Europe.”
Asked whether one party sided with the Pickens Plan more than another, Pickens said bipartisanship has been apparent and positive.
“I think it’s been pretty well accepted, it’s a plan for America and it doesn’t fit any one party,” Pickens said in a pre-speech meeting with reporters, “other than the Democrats are a lot more aggressive on renewables than Republicans are.”
A few days after his Fort Worth appearance, Pickens provided his third consecutive monthly update on the United StatesÂ’ imports of foreign oil, which he believes is a good way to illustrate just how important the Pickens Plan is, and how progress can be made.
The United States imported 62 percent of its oil in February sending about $13 billion, or $328,709 per minute, overseas to foreign government, Pickens said, citing figures from the U.S. Department of EnergyÂ’s Energy Information Administration.
“The good news is that we have a president who has repeatedly said that he is committed to substantially decreasing foreign oil imports during his term,” Pickens said in a March 5 statement. “I believe that he wants to do this.”
More than 1.4 million people have signed up online to join the New Energy Army, a term used by Pickens to describe those in favor of the plan. Addressing the crowd of students, faculty and other guests, Pickens asked for more support.
“I want you to join me,” he said.
