Kevin Richert of the Idaho Statesman paid close attention to T. Boone Pickens when the legendary energy executive spoke at a gathering of editorial writers in Dallas last weekend. Richert definitely got his facts right:
I don’t think anybody can convincingly defend America’s decades-long failure to write an energy plan. The United States consumes 21 million barrels of oil a day, and imports 13 million. Of that, 5 million barrels come from OPEC nations.
Richert noted that the U.S. has a minuscule number of vehicles running on natural gas, but that the Pickens Plan offers a solution that will not only increase that number but will also substantially decrease dependence on OPEC oil.
The centerpiece is natural gas – a cheaper and cleaner energy source that America has in abundance. However, only 134,000 American vehicles run on natural gas (one local example is Valley Regional Transit’s bus fleet). Pickens would like to see America’s 8 million 18-wheelers convert to natural gas, which would halve America’s need for OPEC oil.
Richert also points out that a lot of competing interests have a stake in developing an energy plan for America, including private landowners and public companies, but that Pickens supports any domestic energy.”I’d rather have it than OPEC oil,” Pickens said of ethanol. “I don’t care what it costs.”