Wednesday, July 9, 2008

T. Boone Pickens plan to reduce oil use

Link from Jack.
I'm 80 years old and I've been an oilman for almost 60 years. I've drilled more dry holes and also found more oil than just about anyone in the industry. With all my experience, I've never been as worried about our energy security as I am now. Like many of us, I ignored what was happening. Now our country faces what I believe is the most serious situation since World War II.

If we don't do anything about this problem, over the next 10 years we will spend around $10 trillion importing foreign oil. That is $10 trillion leaving the U.S. and going to foreign nations, making it what I certainly believe will be the single largest transfer of wealth in human history.
Read more In the Wall Street Journal.

Pickens believes the United States can cut oil imports by a third within a decade with wholesale construction of wind turbines across the Great Plains. The electricity produced can then be used to shut down natural gas power plants so we can use natural gas for transportation, though I'm surprised to see Pickens claim that natural gas in the United States is "abundant" and "cheap" since U.S. gas production peaked last year and prices are at record levels.

Locally, more and more people are taking public transportation to reduce their reliance on imported oil. Here's what Caltrain looked like this week during my commutes.

Caltrain is getting crowded

Murph attended the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Bikes On Board subcommittee meeting, where they discussed SFBC's response to Caltrain's Bicycle Master Plan. I plan to attend the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition meeting tomorrow night in Mountain View, where we'll discuss the same thing.

On a related note, bikes on board the Highway 17 Express service is on the agenda for this Friday's meeting of the Santa Cruz Metro Board of Directors. I spoke with Board Vice Chair Dene Bustichi this week about the issue -- he didn't commit to anything but I hope I was able to convey the importance of bikes on board the bus.

7 comments:

  1. I like what Ive seen of him, you can go to his website. If you want to know more. Kind of reminds me of another oil man, who ran for president. Could Pickens have presidential asperations>? http://www.tboonpickens.com

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  2. Pickens is a straight shooter, and unlike a certain other oilman politician, Pickens has long called for a national energy policy.

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  3. Pickens has been involved in politics for a while. He was a significant funder of the "Swift Boat Veterans" smear campaign in the last election.

    http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/11/kerry_takes_pickens_1_million_swift_boat_bet/

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  4. ...t.boone pickens is an intelligent & straight enough shooter to pay attention to, especially regarding energy sources & consumption...re: the swift boat thing...he's also smart enough to know which side his 'bread' is buttered on & therefore supported the party that was gonna be easiest on his personal wealth...fair ???, not really, but that is big money american politics...

    ...omg, fritz...that foto is worth a thousand words as an appropriate metaphor in so many ways...here comes the future, "rollin' on down the line"...& i'll bet you were just tryin' for 'funny', huh ???...

    ...good luck on that 'metro express' issue...you'd hope they'd understand it as regards the regulars who've been doing the bike/ bus thing for a while now...you guys should be "grandfathered" in, especially considering the crunch that everyone is feeling these days...

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  5. Boone makes the easy money as oil prices rise but cares more about our country than just making additional American pesos.

    He is one of a rapidly growing list of business leaders who readily admit that our culture has to change if we want our future to be prosperous. As an oil man he readily states that "we cannot drill our way out of this problem".

    The largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world has begun but most Americans prefer to ignore the obvious as they continue to drive large SUVs and other fuel inefficient vehicles.
    Jack

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  6. There is a public Forum for discussions about Pickens plan :
    www.pickensenergyplan.com
    Cheers.

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  7. Please to post the notes on the SVBC meeting. The statements on the SVBC mailing list from the SVBC board (of course Celia remains silent) are laughable.

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