American People Win 393-35
As we all know a lot of political wrangling takes place on Capitol Hill, but with each passing week it's more and more obvious that this Congress is serious about doing something to end our addiction to foreign oil. I say this because on Tuesday the House took an important step towards this goal when it passed Congressman John Sullivan's bill to reauthorize the Natural Gas Vehicle Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment program for the next five years.
Part of the reason H.R. 1622 enjoyed such smooth sailing is that Congressman Sullivan cut to the chase. The bill provides $30 million for natural gas vehicle research each year from 2010 to 2014 and directs the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to focus this research on commercial vehicles. Why? It's simple. Natural gas can power a diesel truck. It burns cleaner than gasoline. And it produces less greenhouse gases than either diesel or gasoline.
But what matters most about H.R. 1622 is that it didn't just pass. It passed overwhelmingly: 393-35. And you've got to believe that one of the key reasons for this is because 97 percent of the natural gas we use in the U.S. is produced right here in North America. That point hits home with a lot of Americans, including the bill's sponsor, John Sullivan. Here's what he said:
In 2008 alone, natural gas vehicles displaced over 300 million gallons of petroleum in the United States. I believe that natural gas must continue to play an important role in decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of oil and leading America to greater energy security. Natural gas is not just American-made energy. It's Oklahoma-made energy. My legislation undoubtedly helps our state as we are one of the top natural gas producers in the nation, typically accounting for almost one-tenth of the total U.S. production.
I've spent my entire career in the energy industry, and I can tell you that our country's natural gas reserves are not just in traditional energy states such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Alaska but spread out from coast to coast. You'd be surprised to learn what sort of production comes out of Kansas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Alabama.
Maybe that's why H.R. 1622 passed by such a large margin. A lopsided vote like 393-35 is a huge victory, and it's further evidence of the fact that members of Congress recognize the tremendous benefits of natural gas: it's clean, it's abundant, and, most importantly, it's American.
We're making great progress towards getting America to end its addiction to foreign oil. Momentum is on our side, but critical steps still remain, and by that I mean getting the NAT GAS Act passed in the House (H.R. 1835) and the Senate (S. 1408) and then signed into law by President Obama this year. If you have any doubts about why these two pieces of legislation are so critical, I suggest you tune into Charlie Gibson's special on ABC tonight. The program's name says it all: "Over a Barrel: The Truth About Oil."
Once you see how deep a hole we've dug for ourselves by importing two-thirds of our oil and then you see all the ways OPEC and the other oil producers don't want us to change our ways, all I ask is that email your congressman and your senator as quickly as possible and urge them to support the NAT GAS Act.
Follow T. Boone Pickens on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pickensplan
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T-the goal is to get rid of all gas, gasoline, coal and anything that needs to be burned to realise energy, except maybe biodiesel. This looks a lot like bait and switch to me.
The original plan of all wind or solar was a lot better.
You really don't have a lot of credibility.
BioChar and other BioFuels of WASTE streams reduces pollution, and provides all the fuels we need. When combined with rooftop solar, all our energy needs, cleanly, safely cheaply and forever. See my profile for details and links.
Perhaps Mr. Pickens, you could start to toot your horn on how local electric companies love to gouge
poor Americans. Asking state Public Utility Commissions for endless rate increases and never turning them down.
Perhaps Mr. Pickens, you could come to Pennsylvania where next year the "cap" will be taken off and the rates will go pretty high.
One more thing Mr Pickens...
Perhaps you could do a little research on something we call LIGHT POLLUTION which is the definition of our lighting the undersides of Clouds, Birds and Airplanes...
We waste at least $2 Billion doing it...
No good reason for it.
SonofLiberty1 is concerned about electrical rates and that's true of most Americans. However, electrical rates are a product of your state utility board and electrical companies, not Mr Pickens.
Some of us are trying hard to generate our own electricity with both purchased and self-made wind turbines, both vertical axis and conventional. Any electricity one generates decreases reliance on your local electrical company.
Lastly, I would add that there is a huge amount of wasted electrical energy between the power plant and end user. It is like paying for a glass of beer and being served half a glass. Rather than attacking Mr. Pickens, what we should be doing is writing and phoning our state government leaders to reduce the power diminution between the plant and end user. If utility companies can and should plan a supply system that wastes less of the product since users are paying for all of the electricity generated at the source. I don't believe that end-users should pay for unnecessary waste as electricity travels along the power lines.
are you saying that we are going to shut our borders, stop all gas exports, and that AMERICA, not, say, Pickens, will own all that gas, so that AMERICA can have all our gas for free? Otherwise, frankly, a global market in gas and oil, and the massive global cartels which control their extraction and transportation benefit 100% whether they destroy our wilderness to get it or they destroy someone else's.
xenophobia and global markets are mutually exclusive. simpletons can chant "drill here drill now," but the truth is that Chevron, Pickens, Sempra and others will sell OUR gas and oil to the highest bidder and that is usually China or India until our prices spike so high that old people start freezing to death, then they sell OUR gas back to us.
don't believe the hype. AMERICA won't be helped or harmed by AMERICA-sourced gas and oil. The only energy source that WE can truly own is solar power produced on our own roofs (and microwind). Shouldn't we all be demanding REAL energy independence instead of just shifting our money from one gigantic, rapacious energy corporation to another?
This is why we should support Sarah Palin's push for a pipeline to bring abundant, non poluting natural gas from Alaska for easy access for us to use. It will cut down on the use of coal in generating electricity and maybe oil. People keep making excuses for why we shouldn't build it, but if we're in a "crisis" as the global warming enthusiasts keep telling us, it would be the way to go to even to just cut down on air pollution.
Dear Mr. Pickens,
This is a win for America, but lets be honest, its also a pretty big win for you directly. I suppose half of the "Pickens Plan" is better than nothing, but try not to loose focus on the other half just because of a slight setback.
From what I have read about you, you are a man that gets things done and doesn't let challenges, like transmission line rights stand in your way. Maybe some of the funding that you are surely going to reap from the NG legislation could be used to finance the other half of your plan, the half that created such a loyal following to your plan in the first place.
We are not pushing for more wind and solar because its going to be easy, we are doing it because its the right thing to do regardless of the difficulties.
Solar Maid
Create natural gas/air-powered hybrid passenger vehicles and we will can move people around in the comfort to which they are accustomed.
This will have a greater positive environmental impact than electric/hybrids - as electric is only as green as its source. Air compressors at natural gas fueling stations could be powered by solar/natural gas hybrid systems.
Gasoline/air car hybrid designs already boast huge miles-per-gallon savings. Natural gas is the obvious choice for this over gasoline.
Support air car technology.
I'm not against the idea of "transitional" energy sources like natural gas, though I think that in the time it takes to convert fleets and create a distribution network to support natural gas vehicles, you may end up with yet another archaic infrastructure (like gasoline, leaking tanks, equipment, etc.) to deal with. I think that funded and sustained development of wind and solar energy, along with energy storage systems (batteries), will yield the best results for our tax dollar.
I think that wind and solar may be to egalitarion an idea for many corporate types to embrace, mainly because once it is in place (windmill, solar array), you don't need to keep spending money, except for minor maintainance and such. This is the same reason why music execs are having such a hard time...they can't control distribution like they used to...energy execs want something they can control and price access to...
If you want information on green power you can really put your hands on, check out:
http://www.thirdcoastkites.com
well said.
wind, solar, hydro-electric, and fuel cell tech are the way to go.
Spain already powers 20% minimum (and up to 40% on weekends, ie. off peak) of their electric needs from wind turbines. Ya, Spain. Spain is beating the US.
(http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/spain-wind-power-record-41-percent.php)
fuel cell tech is employed in several places in the US, although the amount of electricity it can generate is currently small. It's used in a few campuses and buildings. But it's getting better every year.
Use Solar and Wind to generate energy. Supplement that with Fuel Cells for peak hours or when solar or wind aren't generating enough.
This combo is already being used in other countries. It doesn't take a genius to make it work. It's so simple, even I figured it out. Come on people.
First we invest and install rooftop solar at 3 cents per KWH.
That will free up the peak natural gas fueled generators for backup.
THEN we can start finding new applications for natural gas, without spiking the price. TBoone, if you want to be taken more seriously, you should donate you investments in natural gas to a charity. Otherwise it just looks like you are trying to make more money for yourself.
What rooftop solar doesn't produce, we can use natural gas and biofuels.
See my profile for details and links.
I assume, research, that it's ok that Al Gore is now worth 200 million? Have you ever suggested that he might be taken more seriously if he quit flying all over the world in his private jet?
Got anymore straw men?
All that was needed for North Slope NG to get the US was for a 200 mile undersea pipeline from AK to Canada then the NG could flow in CA's pipeline system down to the US.
Bush and Cheney sabotaged the idea to help keep energy prices high.
The first thing I think about is whats happen in the last few years when I have to pay these large heating bills.One of the main reasons said was NG was being used more and more for power plants.The minute every body gets on the bandwagon on this, the price of NG will skyrocket.
Not necessarily, Wisco. The supply of Natural Gas within our borders is mind-boggling; we are virtually afloat on the stuff. More demand will allow the opening up of more supply, which is currently shut-in because the prices are way low right now. Even if the price goes up, it will still be cheaper for your car than gasoline, and the increased supply will create competition among suppliers, keeping the price down.
Let me know when you see a CNG powered cab that can actually fit your luggage in the back. The last frustrated CNG powered cab driver was waving at us with all of his three arms (may be he only had two, it was hard to see, given how fast he was waving) to go away with our large bags.
:-)
I think what KTM is trying to say is..., natural gas is not a liquid
it's a gas
so it takes up more space.
you can spend allot of time, money, energy, and effort to compress it..., but that just uses more energy.
Great but what about getting that North Slope Alaska NG to the US?
The same way we bring in natural gas from foreign countries. It's liquified and transported by ship. A pipleline would be more efficient, but are complicated by environmentalist attack.
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