Sometimes it takes an Oil Man…

Is it just me or has T. Boone Pickens bitch slapped the entire environmental movement?  Pickens has done what an army of environmentalists never could: create momentum behind a national renewable energy initiative.  The Pickens Plan is a massive wind power initiative.  He wants to get America generating 20% of it’s power from our wind corridor in the middle of the country.  With that new electricity in the grid, Pickens thinks we can stop using natural gas in power plants and start using it in cars.  Thus we can free ourselves from the burdens of foreign oil.  I doubt things will go down like that but the fact is, he wants to strengthen our power grid and create a massive amount of renewable wind energy.  I dig it.

This man also gets things done.  This is the email update I got from him:

“We have big, big news! The Pickens Plan Pledge is ready and is already in the hands of EVERY Member of Congress. Every United States Senator. And every Governor.

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico signed the pledge on Wednesday. Remember, Gov. Richardson was a Secretary of Energy, so he knows what the Pickens Plan is all about and he knows what it means to America.”

While the liberals complained, this Texas oil man acted. Thank you T. Boone.

Should we forgive him for financing the disgusting Swift Boat ads that sunk the Kerry campaign?

7 thoughts on “Sometimes it takes an Oil Man…”

  1. RE: Admin

    That’s the point. Like it or not, in a society like ours, it is difficult to rationalize investing lots of money in a project that won’t benefit you economically in the long run.

    I had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Pickens testify before Congress. While Pickens (a Republican) said he wants to spend his final years making a difference and ending our dependence on foreign oil, he admitted he wouldn’t be investing in wind if he didn’t stand to make a bundle from it.

    Pickens is not alone. Shell and British Petroleum America(presumably led by Republican board members) know that oil is not in their future. Though they continue to loudly lobby the government for more access to oil, they know alternative energy is in their future. They’ve invested billions of dollars in wind and solar. Check out their portfolios online. I think you would be pleased.

    In my opinion (and I’m sure many of you will disagree) our energy crisis will largely be solved by the energy and car companies and not by Capitol Hill. I am a firm believer that markets have a way to work themselves out and that the government just needs to clear the way (though providing incentives like the Production Tax Credit on renewable energy would be a good thing, at least in the short term.) It is a shame that the corporations and the government have taken so long to act on alternative sources of energy (and that American auto companies have faltered on efficiency) they’ve gotten the message: If you want to survive, you need to change.

    Bottom line: while our elected officials continue to fail to work out a comprehensive reform based on stubborness partisan strife, it is great to know that American businesses are leading the surge. The fact that they have somewhat selfish reasons is irrelevant.

  2. Also Walther:

    Could you clarify the whole “bitch slapped the entire environmental movement” thing?

    Are you insinuating that the Picken’s Plan is not environmentally friendly (perhaps because he supports drilling everywhere and told Al Gore that “drilling has to be put on page 2”?)

    Or do you mean that Boone Pickens is not a so-called environmentalist but he has successfully brought steam to a movement that will largely be environmentally friendly?

    Perhaps the fault of the environmental organizations is that instead of telling people what they should do, they spend their time telling people what not to do.

    When I was working for a Congressional Office, we were literally baragged with about 100 phone calls a day from senior citizens who had been forwarded to our office by one of many environmental organizations. Instead of calling us to lobby for clean renewable energy, they called us to yell at us about offshore drilling and ANWR. (it’s no surprise to me that a liberal organization is yelling about problems while a conservative man has united masses beyond a real solution.)

    I think the environmental organizations should learn how to better use their resources and influence if they want to make a difference and take credit.

  3. while americans may reap the benefits on technological gains in the future of alternative energy, we are going to need bipartisan cooperation to keep american companies on our soil. When this most recent energy bill failed to go through, and all its tax credits to alternative energy companies, america lost millions, because we cannot compete with tax credits and cheaper labor in a globalized economy.

    we all need to realize that economics is the invisible hand that dominates everything. foreign policy, energy policy…

    i feel like until the corrupt lobbyist system of legalized bribery ends (see the Change Congress movement from Larry Lessig), we will continue to have oil companies in bed with politicians (literally)…and economics (sometimes in their pockets or reelection funds) will continue to dominate policy.

  4. bitch slap:
    To open handedley slap someone. Denote disrespect for the person being bitch slapped as they are not worthy of a man sized punch. Suggests the slap was met with little resistance and much whining.
    *from UrbanDictionary.com

    Write Wing:
    I know it seems inconsistent to you that a supposed ‘liberal’ like myself would salute the efforts of a conservative Texas oil man, but that’s an example of being non-partisan. My side (I donate to Green Peace) isn’t always right, the other side isn’t always wrong. It’s an amazingly colorful world beyond the partisan filter.

  5. I though I was pretty clear:

    “Or do you mean that Boone Pickens is not a so-called environmentalist but he has successfully brought steam to a movement that will largely be environmentally friendly?”

    Yes. That is what I mean.

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