T. Boone Pickens appeared with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Channel after the White House Jobs Summit and discussed the relationship between natural gas and jobs.
Boone told Cavuto that if we moved 350,000 18-wheelers from burning imported diesel to running on domestic natural gas that would create 420,000 jobs directly and add an 1.2 million jobs indirectly.
A side benefit of transitioning about five percent of the nation’s 6.5 million heavy trucks to natural gas, Boone said, would be to “cut our dependency on OPEC for oil by about four percent,” which is a national security issue.
Boone also said that natural gas is “50 percent cleaner than diesel,” so there is an environmental reason to make the switch which Boone said completed the three legs of the stool: Create jobs, reduce pollution, and enhance national security.
Boone reminded Neil that H.R. 1835 and S. 1408 – the NAT GAS Act – is moving through the Congressional process.
Boone told Neil that he has been “working hard” with Congressmen David Boren and John Sullivan of Oklahoma, and John Larson of Connecticut as well as “with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who has done a great job on this.” Boone also pointed out that Sen. John Menendez of New Jersey and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah have been instrumental in getting the bill introduced.
“I think we’re going to get this done,” Boone said.
— The Pickens Team