Pickens Plan Proposes Power Payoff; Protesters Probe Plausibility

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
by Analiese

T. Boone Pickens wants you to know that he does not support McCain. Or, for that matter, Obama. At a town hall with the water/wind/oilman on the UT campus October 9, one of the first questions asked was concerning his backing of the Republican candidate as reported in the Statesman that day. As soon as Pickens denied that position, an aide yelled out that a correction had already been filed. Pickens isn’t going partisan this election season; but he is trying to send the message that “If it’s American, I’m for it.” Energy, that is. Through a college tour of town hall-style meetings, Pickens has been promoting his Pickens Plan, an energy proposal he has launched to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. The main points of the plan, launched in July and now with almost 1 million in its energy “army,” are to ramp up wind power production, and shift natural gas use from producing electricity to powering cars & trucks. This transformation, Pickens claims, would allow us to import 38% less foreign oil than we currently do.

Equally ambitious was the $50 million media blitz launch for the plan. That $50 million, however, didn’t pay for anything but the most broadly drawn propositions, with no feasible solutions for implementation, politically, economically and socially. I, along with many in the audience Thursday, was seeking some clarifications & details. Unfortunately, they were not forthcoming, either in Pickens’ regurgitation of the figures on his website, or his evasion of questions by the audience. Any question that had the slightest hint of challenging or questioning any element of his plan, Pickens either ignored it and went back to his talking points, or mocked the mostly earnest undergrads. Issues raised included increasing energy conservation as a way to reduce foreign oil dependence, the non-sustainability of natural gas, the need for a better transmission infrastructure and the actual reserves of liquid natural gas in the U.S. Pickens said not a word on conservation, nor did he express concern on sustainability. While wind is a renewable resource, Pickens actually calls for more power plants to offset non-peak wind times, which energy experts believe is unnecessary. He supports a national power transmission “highway,” but offers no guidance on how to make this a reality. Pickens disputed the widely cited figure that the U.S. has 3% of the world’s gas reserves. This number is published by the Energy Information Administration, and is supported by industry sources. But Pickens said “heck, I don’t need the government’s numbers, I got my own numbers.” That’s the kind of hubris that turns people off Pickens, makes them suspect his motives, and it certainly doesn’t help win support. His plan overly relies on the actions of the private sector, including his many energy interests, and seems to willfully ignore the enormous amount of political effort needed.

T. Boone admits that his plan may not be perfect, but he claims that it’s the only viable one he’s seen. Maybe what he’s not seeing are all the reasonable, sustainable proposals that don’t have that $50 million media blitz.