T. Boone Pickens Warns $300 Oil Prices. Urges US To Reduce Oil Dependency

The billionaire oilman and onetime corporate raider says the U.S. must wean itself from foreign oil, and he's betting some of his fortune on harnessing domestic energy alternatives.

He spent much of his life drilling for oil, taking over other companies and using his vast wealth to fund Republicans.

Now, T. Boone Pickens champions wind energy, has a Facebook profile and passes the time with grateful Democrats.

On Tuesday, the legendary oil tycoon made his Capitol Hill debut to promote his new cause: using American wind to alleviate the nation's energy crisis and wean itself from dependency on foreign oil. He testified before a Senate committee and held meetings with Democratic leaders, calling on lawmakers to take a stand.

For Pickens, 80, it's not a complete turnabout. For instance, he hasn't apologized for funding the infamous Swift Boat attack ads in 2004 against the Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. John F. Kerry. But he is spending $58 million to advance what he calls "the Pickens Plan" to the country and its leaders.

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Comments

[mightbesane]

I'm confused. You're pissed at Pickens because...?

I own a small village house in the south of France. I realize that makes me suspect from the get go, but bear with me. All around our town, on just about every ridge line, there are wind farms. My wife and I find them sleek and neat...and I detect no intrusive powerlines across what has to be one of the most beautiful rural landscapes in the world.

AND our power bill for every three months is about the same as our bill in the States for one month. And no, it's not because of France's heavy reliance on nuclear power. We operate as a local cooperative.

Frankly, I don't care if the Devil Herself suggests that we rely more heavily on wind. And if Pickens wants to be Her messenger, fine with me. Wind Forever!

[sheila]

what you have in france and what mr. pickens is plotting are radically different. do you think he sees it as a "co-op?" of course not! although we put in all the money and all the land, we hardly get "shares" in it. we get to pay whatever the market will bear... he sees how Big Oil has got a monopoly and has the nation by its short and curlies while still getting massive tax subsidies and earning record profits every quarter. he wants to duplicate this model with wind. is that ok with you?

what you are suggesting is actually closer to what i'm suggesting than what pickens is suggesting. local, decentralized renewable power generation owned by the people. i prefer point of use (microwind and PV) and conservation as a starting point, because solar and wind farms completely destroy thousands of acres of intact ecosystem apiece.

if wind farms are your preferred view, that is your choice, but to impose them on others who previously enjoyed views un-interrupted by man's "industry" is simply unfair if they don't want them, until we try the alternatives. If, after a truly genuine effort at local, point of use renewables (see Germany), and serious investment in conservation systems, we still need more, then we move to the next phase, but the US has done nothing like that so far, and I don't want wilderness destroyed to feed Pickens Pockets, certainly not as a first resort...

[mightbesane]

I read a good deal of Pickens' site and what he's suggesting is a move to alternative sources of energy, fueled at the grassroots level. If we allow a monopoly to be built to his or anyone's advantage, that's on us.

As far as ruining the viewscape...get over it. If today's wind generators looked like Fourteenth Century windmills, no one would be complaining. Current wind generators are just the modern equivalent. And if you think the French aren't concerned about viewescapes and ecosystems, particularly in wine and tourism country, you don't know the French very well.

No, let's not throw away the possible in pursuit of the perfect. And let's not denigrate the message because we don't like the messenger...a guy that most people had no particular problem with when he was pumping us cheap, plentiful gluttony.

[FarOutFish]

This article doesn"t mention Pickens has also called for drilling for oil in the United States, offshore and in ANWAR. A quarter century ago the Democrat Party and their allies the environmentalists stopped virtually all oil exploration and drilling in the country. Then opponents predicted a bleak energy future, we have sown the wind and are now reaping the world wind.
Opponents of drilling point out oil companies hold leases on millions of acres of federal land and should develop those leases before being allowed more places to drill. At 130 Dollars a barrel if there were recoverable petroleum in those leases drills would be all over the place. The fact is oil companies bid on leases gamboling there is oil underneath them. Most of the time they come up with dry holes. That"s the real reason those leases are not producing oil, they don"t have any.
The third objection is the new oil wont come on the market for ten years. They said that ten years ago and ten years before that. A thousand mile journey starts with a single step. Had we taken that step twenty years ago much of the pain at the pump would have been alleviated today.

[sheila]

Good lord, it makes me bonkers when people drink the "independence" koolaid this mercenary is dishing out. HE WANTS YOU TO SWITCH YOUR DEPENDENCE STRAIGHT TO HIM! He is not talking about some co-op where we all get to take ownership in the "new" paradigm! He is talking about a co-op where we have millions of acres of OUR land destroyed, tens of thousands of US are forced from our homes for the new power plants and power lines, billions of our taxpayer/ratepayer dollars are wasting building out a privatized infrastructure, and a ubiquitous free resource (wind) is commodified and sold back to us for an enormous profit - to him.

What is this, Stockholm Syndrome? WAKE UP!

If we do not start SHOUTING for all of our nation's resources to be diverted to US, in the form of feed-in tariffs, subsidies, loans, incentives and other policies which get solar panels on our roofs, micro-wind on our yards and pay us for the privilege, we will look around one day soon and the moment will have passed, and we are, once again, enslaved to Big Corpa with no way out.

Make no mistake. Big Wind is the New Boss, same as Big Fossils, the Old Boss. We finally have an opportunity for REAL INDEPENDENCE and nobody is gonna fight this revolution for us. Not Big Enviros. Not our legislators or our media. It's down to us. Will you join?

[Sumocat]

I believe in decentralized power, but by itself, it won't cut it. We need a mix of personal power production and central plants to continue going. Furthermore, the real potential in wind power lies in tapping the high-altitude jetstream, which is not possible on the personal level. Likewise, the atmosphere puts a hard cap on our ability to gather solar power on the ground. Gathering solar energy via satellite is a long-term but inevitable goal, which obviously cannot be done on one's roof. Decentralization is critical, but centralized power plants are necessary for the foreseeable future.

[KillTheMessenger]

First of all we need conservation. Without it none of what you are saying matters.

Tapping into the jet stream would require 30,000 feet high masts. Let me know when you see one.

Solar energy powers all the wind on earth, including the jet stream, at a thermodynamic efficiency of in the single digit percent range, maybe less. Solar radiation is the one and only renewable form of energy that can satisfy all our wants (which is a lot more than our needs, really).

Your physics, sumocat, is not quite as advanced as your imagination. I would blame the US school system. They are not very good at teaching quantitative reasoning to kids. Honestly, they really suck at it.

[ohiodem250]

If we don't get off of foreign oil those people who will be "forced" off their land (or as some people like to call it "selling their land") will have no reason to occupy it because this country will be a wasteland.

[sheila]

how is this a reason to re-entrench Big Energy monopolies instead of using previously developed land for these projects?

the point is that we are doing VIRTUALLY NOTHING to build out an independent energy sector to supply the vast majority of power this country needs ("peaker power") and, as KTM wisely says, virtually nothing to invest in conservation or storage solutions. since 99% of our nations "energy resources" are pouring into Big Energy, we will never, ever get grid parity for local, decentralized solutions which encourage conservation and allow PEOPLE to invest in the Green Economy as more than mouth-breathing captive consumers. Sorry, but you just can't argue with actively engaging the vast majority of Americans in this process. what happens when all the land is used up? it is certainly NOT "renewable." then what? look no farther than Big Oil and Big Gas - prices skyrocket.

and i'm curious, when's the last time your home was taken by eminent domain? did you really call it "selling?" because it's done under what is called the "takings clause" of the 5th amendment. there is no "sellings clause" and you have NO CHOICE.

[KillTheMessenger]

You got it!

Good old Mr. T. Eighty years of age and still just as greedy as ever. First he does everything he can to destroy the country and then he steps us as the savior. Sounds like one of those villains in the Batman comics, doesn't it? And millions of Americans are cheering...

Gotham City lives.

:-)

[mergina]

Now WHY does this solution, coming from a billionaire OILMAN seem suspect? I believe he has found a way to be PROFITABLE with something that is FREE, wind. More power to him I guess, anything that helps clean up the mess we have made of our home.

[ohiodem250]

If Wind energy was free why don't you already have it?

Yeah, he may be making a profit for it, but what's the problem with that. I'm a Democrat but I'm still a capitalist.

[KillTheMessenger]

The problem with that is that Mr. T. just asked the government to pay for his new business model. Of course, he did not say how much he wants to sell that energy for to you.

But if you apply economics 101 to his plan, by electrifying traffic, electricity prices will go through the roof, at which point his wind farms will be cash cows.

And you get the crankshaft, yet again.

The correct answer to America's problems is conservation. A word you shall not hear from Mr. T because he does not know how to make money on it.

:-)

[sheila]

if you are a capitalist, then why do you object to having our tax and ratepayer dollars paying for rooftop and microwind, so that WE can sell power into the grid?

It sounds like you are supporting Corporate Welfare to build Robber Baron monopolies. Sure, that is a brand of capitalism, but we were kind of hoping it would go away, kind of like Dictatorships and Slavery.

You know that taxpayers and ratepayers pay 100% of the cost of Big Energy infrastructure, right? that power buybacks are literally guaranteed, and that they get to amortize 100% of costs across the grid, all while exercising eminent domain over helpless homeowners - with YOUR money - who just want to live their lives?

Nobody in their right mind, once they know how the money works, how much these things harm the environment, and how screwed Americans will be by this, will support these horrible, anti-competitive ecosystem killers over engaging Americans in conservation (without quality of life reductions) and allowing US to participate in a free energy market.

trouble is, we don't have hundreds of millions of dollars to do a huge PR campaign and buy off politicians. Hell, we don't even get the actual article slots here - all we have are the "comments" sections of blogs. Welcome to Democracy in the modern age.

[Scotty65]

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Cheers

[Sumocat]

I believe Pickens may prove to be the strongest asset to the energy independence movement yet. He's got the money to back his goals and the pull with conservatives to bring in more converts. He could break the idea that this is somehow a partisan issue.

[KillTheMessenger]

If there ever was a near perfect example of "delusional", you just gave it to us.

[Sumocat]

When conservatives start flocking to back renewables and admit offshore drilling is not a solution, we'll see how many of them cite The Pickens Plan as an influence. At the very least, Pickens has given them a conservative-based excuse to switch sides.

[happyez]

KTM, I have noticed that countries such as Germany, have been investing in solar and other renewables for close to 20 years. Chernobyl hit most Europeans, and Germans in particular very hard.

I also heard that the CDU government (+ SDP) are ready to increase development of solar and geothermal by a huge number - sorry, no link was noted, just the round about figure of an increase.

I also believe that Merkel is planning to cut CO2 German emissions by 50% by 2020. One of the highest.

All from a Conservative government. On THIS issue, I commend their work. The '68 generation (as they are called) made inroads in most leading institutions in Germany. This is one of the results.

So while people bicker about labels, they dont matter that much in some countries. Which really says that those who do, fall behind. We're all in the same boat really.

So, T Boone is investing heavily. He wants the profits for himself. Its not a coop. OK. Coops arent very good at making money beyond a small limit. He hasnt got that problem.

I am not presenting a 'left' position. That would be to knock him. I would guess that one day, most giant corporations will take over most things I cherish as being 'ours' and will apply their business model to them. Say la vee.