T. Boone Pickens has an awesome four-minute presentation about his plan to save America’s energy future. Great topic. Great ideas. Great presentation. It’s the perfect combination of whiteboard simplicity mixed with some really connected and compelling graphics.
Boone’s message: “America is in a hole and it’s getting deeper every day. We import 70 percent of our oil at a cost of several hundred billion a year. I’ve been an oil man all my life, but this is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of. But if we create a new renewable energy network, we can break our addiction to foreign oil. On January 20, 2009, a new President gets sworn in. If we’re organized, we can convince Congress to make major changes toward cleaner, cheaper and domestic energy resources.To get this done, I need your help. Check out the plan. If you think it’s worth fighting for, please join our effort, and encourage everyone you know to do the same.”
If a guy who made his fortune in oil and gas can say this and put out a plan to do it, maybe we should take notice and listen…and do something about it! This guy rocks. Find out more at http://www.pickensplan.com.
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34 Responses
November 18th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Chris,
I completely agree with your observations regarding Pickens Plan and previously viewed the demonstration which you refer. I think he does have a lot of valuable points outlined that merit deep consideration. I signed up for his Army and sent of emails to my Congressman, Governor and on up the political chain. It was relatively easy to accomplish. Just because the price of a barrel of Oil has gone done does not change the need to extricate ourselves from this need. I also live in the State of Pennsylvania where oil was discovered and coal is a major economic product, but lets get real here there is no one easy solution it has to be a combination of oil, wind, solar, geo thermal, natural gas and nuclear.
Jim
November 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Unfortunately, T. Boone Pickens’ energy plan is on hold until 2010. The deteriorating credit crisis has made obtaining financing for the idea extremely difficult. Combined with the huge drop in natural gas prices, wind generated electricity is currently uncompetitive with natural gas generated electricity.
I believe his TV spots have stopped airing, but he is still doing interviews.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I’d add (2) governenmt-owned refineries at seperate locations, and reinvestment into nuclear generation - but that’s just me.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Also check where T. Boone Pickens and other like-minded proponents of these strategies have investments. Massive returns will be generated from the federal government subsidization of alternative sources of uneconomic energy, such as wind, solar, biomass, ethanol, etc. He has the funds to promote his one sided agenda without critical argument but if the feds don’t step up, he could also lose a lot.
I have no involvment in any aspect of the energy industry but it would seem to me that an expansion of current nuclear fission capabilities and on-going research and development of fusion technologies would be far more sensible than the vision pollution of windmills and large scale solar farms, and the excessive N. American use of animal feed products (e.g. corn) to produce ethanol, with unpredictable results. In the meantime, a far more effective deployment of financial resources (taxes) should be made to improve clean oil extraction processes from known N. American reserves.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I am with John, you have to follow the money. T Boone is a patriot, but he is first and foremost out for T Boone. He has a huge investment planned for windmills in West Texas, but needs the government to run the distribution grid to get that power to the end user. Otherwise they are just “blowin in the wind.”
I personally like the CNG idea for cars, but widespread distribution never took off in the 70’s when it was first introduced. Seems like still a great idea for Municipal vehicles and local commercial where distribution would not need to be on every corner. I know Dallas Rapid Transit is doing very well with CNG Buses.
It looks like electric is the clean power choice of personal autos.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Great conversation to have. Thanks for starting it Chris. As a former explorationist, I have been very impressed with Boone Picken’s initiative. But … unless we are willing to build numerous nuclear power plants there is no conceivable combination of wind, solar, hydro or other alternative energy sources that can meet our energy requirements. The reports I’ve seen indicate we can only replace up to 30% of the energy we are currently using with alternative non-nuclear sources and our requirements and usage continue to grow with our population. I actually support Picken’s plan but we need to be realistic. Alternative energy is a factor but a major reduction in consumption coupeled with a major improvement in usage efficiency seems to me to be the best approach. That’s where I would like my research tax dollars spent.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
See this for the truth about the Pickens Plan. http://zaproot.com/2008/07/truth-about-the-pickens-plan-zaproot-048/
I have to admit that his marketing of the idea was brilliant in that he got all his ducks in the row and then appealed to the american public to make it happen. I would suggest Obama put him in charge of the DOE.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
You don’t have to follow the money very far to see the incredible subsidies the current gang are getting. I frankly don’t care if T. Boone gets richer or not; something has to change, and making the fossil fuel set more entrenched by not making a radical change is NOT an option. Take away their subsidies, and give them to the renewable resource crowd, and you’ll see some action. We also need federal control over the inefficient and antiquated power grid. The existing “powers that be” are never going to modernize it to the point where it is a reliable delivery system.
Please feel free to count the costs of our last two wars in the subsidy for fossil fuels section of this equation. Wind, tides, cow farts, ANYTHING is better than our current scheme, which is paying terrorists and hostile government for our energy, polluting the planet, and compromising our national security.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Whether T. Boone’s ideas & plan are totally “self-serving” - as so many suspect, & have openly stated (especially in CA, where a proposition [10] was allegedly not only financially backed, but actually sponsored, by him) - or as prescient as they seem, count this sometime/longtime Alternative Energy-Fuels/Energy Conservation & Management Consultant SOLIDLY in his corner!
I come at this from the perspective of one who has “been there/done that”, & can tell those interested - unequivocally - that had the Arab Oil Boycott efforts of the ’70’s been maintained even another year or so longer, we’d all have long since had very large percentages of our vehicles running on clean burning LPG & CNG.
There are SO many advantages: Both fundamental (Air Quality in particular, Environmentally-Ecologically in general); and ancillary (e.g., NO carbon build up in engines, so far lower maintenance costs; plus, with or without complicated & costly catalytic converters working properly, if at all, no pollution damages resulting, etc.)
And, if you ask: Yeah, but what about Diesel engines? We even had an answer for that: A unit that could be easily installed on trucks for under $500., that injected LPG into the diesel fuel. This occured automatically, when the vehicles were pulling away from dead stops, or in ascent road modes - i.e., those times they’d ordinarily be belching huge clouds of black-cloud “NOX”, a known carcinogen, out their stacks! These engines also received an up to 25% greater power boost, and lowered emissions by a like amount.
“Bottom Line” point to all this is: Old, worn out claims that converting from the mess we now have - & make, of our environment - is some sort of very long-term, costly & ostensibly “Pie in the Sky” pipe-dream, is simply more anti-change/regressionist drivel. We may still actually be another decade away from mass production/vehicle replacement technological advances - in Fuel Cell, Hydrogen or even long-distance travel Electric vehicles. (Which claim, please note, the quick/quantum leap adances in Solar Photo-Voltaic collector & storage technnology & cost reductions, during the ’80s & ’90’s, puts to serious question!)
But valid or not, that need not/should not be a rationalization for NOT taking other steps to reduce polution, in the interim. Technologically, the “WAY” is - & has been for some time - there: It’s the lack of ‘WILL”, combined with selfish self-interests & preservation of privileged/purchased commercial rights, that serve as the major blockade. The vertically integrated Petroleum Companies - which create LPG as a by-product of “cracking” crude oil for other products & gasolene - even went so far as to goad (or “buy”) CA’s “CARB” agency, into actually BANNING the conversion of vehicles to LPG, when that was finally really catching on in the ’80’s. Reason?: It was beginning to eat into their gasoline sales profits!
So, if for no other reason(s): Vivah, T. Boone & his plan (self-serving or not!).
November 18th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Chris - I’m familiar with Mr. Pickens plan, and it’s not what it appears to be. Check out this link for more info. http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/the-pickens-pla-1.php . There are others also. Google: “Boone Pickend Energy Plan Flaw” and you’ll find plenty
November 18th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Awesome!
Do you think Pickens has any stock in wind power?
November 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I completely agree with the thread going on here. I admit to being a Boone fan from way back (he was a maverick in his oil days too), but even if you disagree with him, the message is spot on. It is time for us (all of us in this country) to take back ownership of our energy future.
Like the previous commentator, I am old enough to remember the short-lived gas lines from the 70’s. It is reckless to turn a blind eye to dwindling and less reliable energy supply sources. Instead, in these uncertain economic times, we should be investing towards new sources and new technolgies that will not only make us stronger, but also propel our economy out in front of the world.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
You might want to read this. I thought TBoone Pickens was great too, until I saw his background. The idea to switch to wind power is fine, but he’s not clean in terms of his politics or his motives.
Why T. Boone Pickens’ ‘Clean Energy’ Plan Is a Ponzi Scheme
By Scott Thill, AlterNet
Posted on August 21, 2008, Printed on November 18, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/95471/
http://www.alternet.org/environment/95471/why_t._boone_pickens%27_%27clean_energy%27_plan_is_a_ponzi_scheme/
November 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Pickens’ PLan is a mostly valid compilation of other people’s ideas that have been floating around for decades. Pickens provides tremendous value to these ideas as a wealthy, powerful, and respected philantropist, business leader…ie, he can get attention among influential people that can hopefully help turn these ideas into reality.
Unfortunately, nearly all of what he currently has in his Plan is long-term, ie at least 10-20yrs to initial significant usage and 50+yrs or more for mass adoption. Also, a primary component of what he’s proposing initially is natural gas, which will continue increasing the net CO2 greenhouse gas in our atmosphere because it is a fossil fuel. Any form of compressed gas, regardless of whether it’s natural gas or hydrogen or will require a dramatic expense in replacing or adding to infrastructure, including distribution and the vehicles it runs in (let alone production). The scale of that is so huge that it will likely never happen for natural gas in particular, and likely only for hydrogen in a much more limited form than some are dreaming about. Anyway, all of that is long term.
We need short-term solutions…transitional steps toward the future. For vehicles, that means renewable liquid fuels, such as biodiesel. Ethanol has a host of problems that will continue to impede its use (lack of vehicle compatibility, net energy balance is negative, inefficient corn feedstock, poorer energy output, etc etc), which is currently causing a severe retraction in that industry with billions of $ lost by investors. Liquid fuels that can leverage the existing distribution infrastructure and unmodified vehicles is a good first step, and the US needs to follow Europe’s lead on that. Supplemental hydrogen-on-demand fuel injection added to current vehicles is a good second step. Continuing to mandate manufacturer’s improvments in vehicle fuel efficiency and designs for alternative fuels will help the nearer term.
What is badly needed to begin yesterday is building out and modernizing our electric distribution grid. Plug-in electric vehicles will not be viable for more than 5% of the population until that happens, and that is again an infrastructure problem that will take decades. Shai Agasi (former Pres of SAP) may have one component of an interim solution for that with his new venture that is pushing for vehicle battery standards that will permit swapping batteries out in <2min at a “refueling station”, thereby permitting recharging batteries closer to electrical sources in such a manner that avoids the brown-outs that will otherwise occur with a lot of electric vehciles running around. SmartGrid technologies will only take our antiquated electric grid so far. Although replacing coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants with wind, wave, tide, geothermal, and solar generation is desirable, and inevitable, it seems that almost all of the attention is on such alternative generation and little to none on distribution. Sure, we’re gonna wind up with a lot of relatively expensive electrical generation but with no where for it to go…again, until the long term.
I think T Boone Pickens has done a wonderful thing promoting his plan, and it has started conversations like yours among not just consumers but also politicians and industry players. I’m just saying that you’re gonna see that plan change over time to cope with reality, and in the meantime it’ll cause a lot of money spent that may serve us long term but will delay the relief that our economy and standard of living is dependent upon petroleum. Blindly following his plan and getting Congress distracted from meaningful short-term solutions via his “Army” will likely come back to haunt you.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
The free market can choose the most reliable and inexpensive sourcing options; subsidies to anyone clouds the choice. I agree: pull the subsidies (but don’t continue the problem somewhere else) and let the free market decide.
Regards,
Steve
November 18th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Didn’t mean this all to focus too heavily on T. Boone and his ideas, even though I like them. I wanted to focus more on presentation style and his use of imagery during the presentation. But, I’m very glad to see it has ignited some vigorous debate as well. Always great to discuss and debate important issues like our energy woes.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I lived through 1972 when I worked with the Miami Dolphins. We used autographed footballs to get through the long gas lines. While the lines aren’t long today, the problem remains the same.
Save us anyone with logic. Just because the price of gas is down, doesn’t mean the problems don’t still exist.
I support Pickens and everyone else who wants to do anything for the future of our children and grandchildren.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Washington has done little on this. When you want to get the job done talk to someone whose butt has been on the line. I watch Boone regularily on CNBC. Perhaps Obama should invite Boone to work on his team come Cabinet time. He is well ahead of the bureaucrats and special interests. Like the $ a year men during WW2 this could be a great challenge and find for America
November 19th, 2008 at 9:23 am
T Boone Pickens is more like slim pickens in the scope of what I know can be done. Natural Gas and Wind are two resources that I do agree can make a huge difference in the economy on the short term. His plan is well-founded in that limited view, however we need something more. I think that is obvious even in the figures used in his teaser.
Here’s what we REALLY need to do and it solved much more than energy production. There is a term called ‘Flex Fuel’ in the current mix of automobile choices. It means the vehicles can use biofuel/alcohol as well as gas. Brazil went from 80% dependence on foreign oil to 0% in ten years. We’ve been told this is a ‘3rd World’ country.
I forget the exact percentage of non-farmed land that is available yet not used, often with farmers receiving subsidies NOT to plant. Various crops are viable and corn has been the most prominent here, but sugar cane is even better. Our production capacity as a nation is far greater than current status; our energy deliverables MUST be equal to our ability to lead the world in reparations.
Reparations from polluting our planet - its air, soil and water - need to be as much a focus as energy consumption/production (the original cause of all the pollution). T Boone’s plan is good, but I think we can do better. We’ve got to raise our heads from trying to ‘fix’ things and look deeper to what ‘needs’ to be done, including the wise use of technology and our creative capacity as a nation.
I believe in the Dream, harmony among people and planet, in our lifetime. We have to move beyond our fears, using them as doors, and Be The Dream. This will take some personal leadership across the gamut of cultural and social differences. We need to remember one of the best mottos I’ve ever encountered: United We Stand.
Namaste,
Zen Benefiel
A broader look at the crisis: Energy Victory [ http://www.energyvictory.com ] by Robert Zubrin
November 19th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
T Boone Pickens is no saviour, nor is he a visionary. An opportunist, absolutely. All in all this plan amounts to just another revenue stream. He’s made billions off the backs of Americans through his oil companies. Maybe he feels a little guilty but I doubt it.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
T. Boone is a giant among small thinkers. He has a plan, and albeit, some do not agree, at least.. He HAS a plan. For those who have not listened to the presentation,please do. This is a man that can do anything he wants on earth, and at age 80 he is selling sustainable enery concepts.
T.Boone, keep the faith. America will eventually listen.. Let’s just
hope ‘eventually’ will come sooner than later.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Another issue that infuriating is the notion of wind fall profit tax on the oil industry. Fortunately, the collaps of oil prices has kind of nipped that one in the bud. But here is my logic none the less.
I came out of college at the peak of the BOOM of the last oil crisis in the 1970/80’s, just in time to participate in the BUST phase (luck me).
At that time, way back in another millennium, George Bush the first, said “Oil imports = BAD, Domestic Production = GOOD”. Since then, according to T. Boone we have grown more & more dependent on imported oil. So, I guess we are all BAD, right! So, if we knew it was BAD, why did we do it? Are we all naughty little boys & girls? Did the devil make us do it? Hmmmmm, lets see.
Lets say me & my friend Bubba are greedy and want to ‘get rich’. And we got a bit of money & by God we are gonna go out and start Tom & Bubba’s Oil XPLOR-A-Shun Company. So Tom & Bubba take half their money and punch a hole in the ground inside the good ol’ US of A, say in Texas or even way up there in Alaska. They get lucky and up thru the ground cums a bubbling Crude … Oil that is…. What happens next, well they don’t have a refinery so they sell it for $140/Barrel to a real oil company to be refined. So they report a profit of $140 minus a little cost. And what happens next, they pay taxes! So, you and me as tax payers see money flowing in with ours from the oil company, thats GOOD, right (or so we are told).
Now, lets say Tom & Bubba take the other half of their money and form a partnership with their new friend Akmed. And this parnership drills for oil, outside the good ol’ US of A, say in international waters where no government may tax them. They again get lucky and as the oil comes up, what happens? They sell their oil to a real oil company for $140/B and keep it all.
So when it comes time for Tom & Bubba to reinvest their profits cause, inspite of their efforts to spend all that money, its really more fun to make more money, which place are they gonna reinvest in …. Texas or Alaska, where they pay taxes or somewhere else …..Hmmmm. NO BRAINER! Thus as T. Boone pointed out, we are creating one of the largest transfers of wealth to those OUTSIDE the US fo A. Akmed loves us!!
So for 30 years, we have known imported oil = BAD, domestic oil = GOOD. but our tax policies have driven production outside the USA. …. Hmmmm.
Now, perhaps we are considering more taxes on the oil companies …. Hmmmm That to me would seem down right stupid.
PERHAPS, we might consider the TOTAL ELIMINATION OF TAX ON THE PRODUCTION OF OIL & NATURAL GAS WITHIN THE US of A, … and better … say thru investment tax Credits, “require or encourage”, the oil company’s to reinvest within the in many industries that need capital here in the Good ol’ US of A.
Anyway, my thoughts & logic, not at all politically popular but much more logical than anything I am hearing in the Media.
Humble Hoosier,
Tom
PS. On a personal note, participating in the BUST phase really was lucky, because you learn a lot more in challenging times than in robust times. Everyone should not fear the economic downturn but charish it as one of the most learning times they will experience, not easy, but challenges create the opportunity to shine.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Chris,
Nice recognition for T. Boone…but I would like to respond to some of the responses.
While T. Boone Pickens is not a savior or an opportunist and I don’t believe he pretends to be. He is a “Capitalist” and American. His companies have amassed a fortune much the way several other companies have, such as, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Wal-Mart, Target, Perot to name a few…and I highly doubt anyone who gained from the success of these companies has any guilt. Technology alone, as an industry, has created wealth for many over the years.
Mr. Pickens created his wealth with oil…and your point is? The United States has become so dependent on oil that WE as a nation have an obligation to research and discover additional methods of producing the energy we use in an efficient manner. Harnessing the energy of wind is just one way. This former “oil man” realized this and has put for an honorable campaign to inspire WE the people to do something that WE do well…utilize the knowledge base that we have in this country and work on the issue.
Some could decide to sit back & criticize the effort or come up with a solution, idea and contribute some knowledge of engineering. Personally, I prefer finding a solution and if I am fortunate enough to work within the alternative energy industry, that would be a good thing.
The economy is in a down turn and will have a profound effect on many of us. Mr. Pickens devised a “plan” that can evolve into a new industry. With that will come new jobs and careers and yes Mr. Pickens will gain from the…as we all will. I applaud his efforts and encourage others to research the topic and develop ideas .
WE can be pretty smart, when WE want to be…
November 21st, 2008 at 2:03 pm
The Sustainable Methods Institute has reviewed the T.Boone Pickens plan and found it to be not Sustainable and that there is much more than the USA and other countries should be doing. The goal should be to terminate all burning of Fossil Fuels. This can be done very quickly with real conservation and alternative energy production as research has shown.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I find it sad that the pressure has come off of a need to find alternative energy. As a matter of fact what’s more disheartening is the instant lack of funding available. Now that gas prices are $2.00 (national average) the claim is alternative energy is too expensive. This claim maybe true today but what about tomorrow. MAKE HAY WHILE YOU CAN! Doing so will reduce our exposure to huge price increases in the future. There is NO DOUBT the oil industry will not allow this to continue. Start watching for the tightening of supply to create demand and we all know what happens when demand is high.
Mr. Pickens should be pushing harder than ever if he’s really in this to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
November 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I think CNG is the way forward together with harnessing wind and solar power.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am
His last statement on the video is key. We need the right leadership. Hopefully, the Obama team will see the value in his ideas and embrace the concepts. I think they will.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The man has a lot of his own money invested in wind and natural gas… so on the one hand, you’ve got to believe that he believes in his ideas; on the other hand- I suspect some of his promotion isn’t just in the greater good, but in his own good.
Still- it is refreshing to see a plan that doesn’t try to minimize the truth of our disastrous dependence on foreign oil.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
follow the money. in politics and business, there is no right or wrong, only interests. thus, it is no surprise that pelosi’s position on drilling and renewables took a turn shortly after her hefty investment in CLNE, run by … t.boone.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_25/b4089040017753.htm
Business Week presents interesting information that Pickens is the country’s largest water “owner”, and will piggyback water transmission onto electricity transmission corridors… maybe his energy plan still has merit, but we should keep in mind that he has at least one ulterior motive.
November 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
It is not a sin to want to make money. What we have in the Picken’s Plan is a way to save evergy.. a way to save billions of US dollars going overseas, and
a plan with impact. Other than that factor, what else would you want.
T. Boone is a man who has a vision, and God willing, will see it through.
November 24th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
i am an avid fan of T.Boone Pickens…great role model and business man..our political leaders need to listen to T.Boone
November 25th, 2008 at 8:27 am
His plan is still built on consuming at the same rate, driving the same number of cars, the same number of miles. So, to me, it sounds like a patchwork plan. I’m not writing it off out of hand, but I like any discussion to at least acknowledge the underlying assumption of maintaining growth, population and consumption, which is the first, not the last, thing that should be addressed.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
It’s an interesing pitch but there are infrastructure issues in creating a system to transport and dispense LNG alongside other combustible fuels. Energy will be used to compress and store the LNG. Presumably, it will take diesel fuel to get the LNG to areas not producing it locally. If I’m an oil producer, I’ll take that.
What we need is to decrease consumption in order to make alternatives more viable as we move away from combustibles (coal, oil, and gas) as an energy source. Local production of electricity, a move away from the big generators and the commodity market has to be encouraged. That means local jobs, local industry, for local use.
It takes oil to transport oil. It takes coal to produce electricity to dispense petroleum. It takes miles of pipelines and high-tension towers to deliver energy. These far-flung networks have to be serviced and maintained. This, in turn, consumes energy.
The Pickens Plan doesn’t break the cycle. By remaining committed to large-scale generation and transport of energy resources it adds another dimension to it. Again, it’s a great pitch and the inclusion of renewables is tempting but it’s still modeled on high-consumption, eternal growth market ideology.
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