The Pickens Plan

[autigeremt 6,719]

WASHINGTON — America will face $300 per barrel oil in 10 years if it does nothing to reduce its thirst for the energy source, T. Boone Pickens told a Senate panel Tuesday.

That was among the dire predictions the Texas Republican oil mogul made as he detailed his new renewable energy plan dubbed "The Pickens Plan" before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. The hearing was called to discuss solutions for reducing the U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

"I have to think in 10 years, the demand for oil — because the price now is going up — in 10 years, you're going to have $300 oil. Maybe higher, I don't know. ... If we continue to drift like we're drifting, you're going to be importing 80 percent of your oil. And I promise you, it'll be over $300 a barrel," Pickens said, responding to a question from committee chairman Sen. Joe Lieberman.

"If we do nothing, it's going to be over the top," Pickens said.

Despite his dark predictions, Pickens was being received warmly on Capitol Hill for his plan, which Lieberman called "can-do" and "bold."

The Pickens Plan — which focuses on wind and natural gas as power sources — is a "classically American message of honesty, determination and can-do optimism. ... The plan has attracted attention because it is bold," said Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, likened his plan to President Kennedy's call to land a man on the moon, and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, called it "music to my ears."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are under increasing pressure to take legislative action on energy prices hovering around record prices, something Lieberman took note of in his opening remarks.

"Apparently, it took $4 a gallon gasoline ... to make all of us angry and anxious enough to get serious about breaking our national dependency on foreign oil," he said.

Pickens was among the experts testifying before the Senate panel.

In his remarks, he laid out a dire outlook for the United States, saying national security is at serious risk as the country buys more and more of its oil from foreign sources, including unfriendly areas like the Middle East and Venezuela.

"This is more than a disturbing trend line. It is a recipe for national disaster. ... This is a crisis that cannot be left to the next generation to solve," Pickens said, adding: "I am convinced we are paying for both sides of the Iraqi war."

Among the things Pickens is looking for are tax incentives for industry such as the production tax credit. He said extending that measure for 10 years would create the stability for companies need to invest in long-term projects.

But Pickens told the panel that aside from getting away from foreign oil, he's for just about anything, from electric cars — like Al Gore advocates — to offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Recalling a conversation he recently had with Gore, Pickens told the panel: "I said, 'I'm for everything that's American.' ... I only have one enemy, and that's foreign oil. That's what I want to get rid of."

Last week, Pickens began a public relations push for the energy plan he simply has titled, "The Pickens Plan." Pickens says installing wind farms in the midsection of the United States, with government help, could produce 20 percent of electricity consumed domestically. That would alleviate the need to use natural gas to make electricity.

Under the Pickens Plan, natural gas along with biofuels would power all transportation, reducing foreign oil dependence — according to Pickens' numbers — by one-third.

The Economist magazine last week reported that Pickens' plan isn't entirely altruistic, however. According to the magazine, Pickens' company Mesa Power has invested $2 billion in a Texas panhandle wind farm. But Pickens, chairman and founder of BP Capital Management, also regularly points out he doesn't need the money.

One of Pickens' companies also owns about 90 of the roughly 500 publicly available natural gas stations with another of his companies, Clean Energy.

Pickens' appearance before the committee was only one of several scheduled appearances in Washington. In what four years ago might have ended in a public pillorying, Pickens on Tuesday also is going to meet with the House Democratic Caucus. Pickens made no friends among the group with his 2004 backing of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, which sought to sink Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid.

Pickens told the Politico in Tuesday editions that he's getting attention from both sides of the aisle, and hopes to get the current presidential field to pay attention: He wants his plan put in place within the first 100 days of the next administration.

He also told the paper he feels like this is his contribution to help the country.

"I didn't want to come and go in this life and feel like I had something that would've helped the country. So I though, 'What the hell, it's time to stand up and be counted,' " Pickens said, according to Politico.

The hearing, titled "Energy Security: An American Imperative," also will feature Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security; Geoffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Smart Growth America; and Habib Dagher, director of the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory.

[Tiger Al 0]

What is it about the plan that makes sense to you and causes you to be a fan? I didn't really see a plan here and his website doesn't really discuss a plan, either, other than to give a cursory discussion of wind farms and natural gas.

[autigeremt 6,719]

Among the things Pickens is looking for are tax incentives for industry such as the production tax credit. He said extending that measure for 10 years would create the stability for companies need to invest in long-term projects.

But Pickens told the panel that aside from getting away from foreign oil, he's for just about anything, from electric cars — like Al Gore advocates — to offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Recalling a conversation he recently had with Gore, Pickens told the panel: "I said, 'I'm for everything that's American.' ... I only have one enemy, and that's foreign oil. That's what I want to get rid of."

Last week, Pickens began a public relations push for the energy plan he simply has titled, "The Pickens Plan." Pickens says installing wind farms in the midsection of the United States, with government help, could produce 20 percent of electricity consumed domestically. That would alleviate the need to use natural gas to make electricity.

Under the Pickens Plan, natural gas along with biofuels would power all transportation, reducing foreign oil dependence — according to Pickens' numbers — by one-third.

More of a comprehensive solution......with the end goal of energy independence.

[DKW 86 7,450]

But Pickens told the panel that aside from getting away from foreign oil, he's for just about anything, from electric cars — like Al Gore advocates — to offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Recalling a conversation he recently had with Gore, Pickens told the panel: "I said, 'I'm for everything that's American.' ... I only have one enemy, and that's foreign oil . That's what I want to get rid of."

Last week, Pickens began a public relations push for the energy plan he simply has titled, "The Pickens Plan." Pickens says installing wind farms in the midsection of the United States, with government help, could produce 20 percent of electricity consumed domestically. That would alleviate the need to use natural gas to make electricity.

Under the Pickens Plan, natural gas along with biofuels would power all transportation, reducing foreign oil dependence — according to Pickens' numbers — by one-third.