Faster horses
Well-known member
The 80-year-old oil-and-gas entrepreneur told more than 1,000 people at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center that the United States built a one-dimensional energy policy on imported oil that now accounts for 70 percent of the nation's supply and exports $700 billion each year to foreign lands.
The country will face catastrophic financial consequences if Congress and the next president don't swiftly act to develop alternative energy supplies and begin to wean the nation from foreign oil.
"If we don't do anything, 10 years from now, we'll be importing 80 percent," Pickens said. "And I promise you, if we're importing 80 percent, oil will be $300 a barrel, and we'll be broke."
Pickens has a plan he says will prevent economic chaos through aggressive investment in alternative energy, especially wind. Wind power could provide 20 percent or more of the nation's electricity, freeing up natural gas now used for electricity generation to power buses, trucks and passenger vehicles that currently burn imported petroleum, he said.
Pickens is traveling across the nation, particularly in the "wind corridor" from Texas to Canada, to gather public support for his plan through a series of meetings including the one Wednesday, Aug. 20, in Rapid City. Traveling with a CBS "60 Minutes" crew, he spoke to 1,300 people in Lincoln, Neb., earlier Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in Fargo, N.D., on Thursday, Aug. 21. The civic center turnout led some audience members to predict that federal officials would have to respond.
"It's too big an issue. They couldn't ignore it," Wall Drug President Ted Hustead said. "I'm glad he's attacking it. Look at all the people here today. I've never seen a turnout like this at an issue meeting."
Pickens said he has budgeted $58 million in personal funds for his push to revise the nation's energy system. He hopes to win enough public support to force action in Washington, D.C. Pickens has met with John McCain and Barack Obama on the issue. He wasn't satisfied with either candidate's energy platform.
"To date, what they have is not really a serious plan," he said.
Pickens said presidential candidates have failed for 40 years to deliver on energy promises. "Everybody running for president since Richard Nixon has said, 'Elect me, and we'll be energy independent,'" Pickens said. "And that was wrong."
Pickens is calling on Congress and the next president to act within the first 100 days of the new administration to begin working on his plan. He is trying to recruit an army of voting citizens to make that happen and to hold elected officials accountable during reelection campaigns if it doesn't.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced Pickens at the meeting and said that Congress must act to encourage development of energy-transmission systems and provide private-business incentives through long-term production tax credits. Thune said Pickens' influence and standing in the energy industry makes his plan more viable.
"I think what he's done raises and legitimizes the issue in a way that politicians talking about it can't," Thune said.
Mack McGillivray of Rapid City, a geologist with the state's oil-and-gas program, said he was encouraged that Pickens was tackling the problem and that natural gas and wind were key parts of the plan.
"I think it's great. He's talking about two of the things we have here in South Dakota -- wind and natural gas," McGillivray said. "I don't think anybody would disagree that we can't keep importing so much oil from other countries, especially those that don't like us very much."
Robert Moore of Rosebud, a councilman for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said he attended to get ideas about alternative energy development. Moore said the tribe is interested in wind power as well as potential options for the reliable flows of the Little White River.
"One of the things we have at Rosebud is wind and water energy," he said. "The Little White River always runs, and the wind always blows."
Pickens said all alternative energy sources should be considered, as long as they're American. And the recent declines in gas prices shouldn't lull citizens or elected officials back into the old pattern of inaction, he said.
"We'll be back at $4 gasoline, I promise you," Pickens said. "It may not be this year, but it sure will be next year."
The country will face catastrophic financial consequences if Congress and the next president don't swiftly act to develop alternative energy supplies and begin to wean the nation from foreign oil.
"If we don't do anything, 10 years from now, we'll be importing 80 percent," Pickens said. "And I promise you, if we're importing 80 percent, oil will be $300 a barrel, and we'll be broke."
Pickens has a plan he says will prevent economic chaos through aggressive investment in alternative energy, especially wind. Wind power could provide 20 percent or more of the nation's electricity, freeing up natural gas now used for electricity generation to power buses, trucks and passenger vehicles that currently burn imported petroleum, he said.
Pickens is traveling across the nation, particularly in the "wind corridor" from Texas to Canada, to gather public support for his plan through a series of meetings including the one Wednesday, Aug. 20, in Rapid City. Traveling with a CBS "60 Minutes" crew, he spoke to 1,300 people in Lincoln, Neb., earlier Wednesday and was scheduled to appear in Fargo, N.D., on Thursday, Aug. 21. The civic center turnout led some audience members to predict that federal officials would have to respond.
"It's too big an issue. They couldn't ignore it," Wall Drug President Ted Hustead said. "I'm glad he's attacking it. Look at all the people here today. I've never seen a turnout like this at an issue meeting."
Pickens said he has budgeted $58 million in personal funds for his push to revise the nation's energy system. He hopes to win enough public support to force action in Washington, D.C. Pickens has met with John McCain and Barack Obama on the issue. He wasn't satisfied with either candidate's energy platform.
"To date, what they have is not really a serious plan," he said.
Pickens said presidential candidates have failed for 40 years to deliver on energy promises. "Everybody running for president since Richard Nixon has said, 'Elect me, and we'll be energy independent,'" Pickens said. "And that was wrong."
Pickens is calling on Congress and the next president to act within the first 100 days of the new administration to begin working on his plan. He is trying to recruit an army of voting citizens to make that happen and to hold elected officials accountable during reelection campaigns if it doesn't.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced Pickens at the meeting and said that Congress must act to encourage development of energy-transmission systems and provide private-business incentives through long-term production tax credits. Thune said Pickens' influence and standing in the energy industry makes his plan more viable.
"I think what he's done raises and legitimizes the issue in a way that politicians talking about it can't," Thune said.
Mack McGillivray of Rapid City, a geologist with the state's oil-and-gas program, said he was encouraged that Pickens was tackling the problem and that natural gas and wind were key parts of the plan.
"I think it's great. He's talking about two of the things we have here in South Dakota -- wind and natural gas," McGillivray said. "I don't think anybody would disagree that we can't keep importing so much oil from other countries, especially those that don't like us very much."
Robert Moore of Rosebud, a councilman for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said he attended to get ideas about alternative energy development. Moore said the tribe is interested in wind power as well as potential options for the reliable flows of the Little White River.
"One of the things we have at Rosebud is wind and water energy," he said. "The Little White River always runs, and the wind always blows."
Pickens said all alternative energy sources should be considered, as long as they're American. And the recent declines in gas prices shouldn't lull citizens or elected officials back into the old pattern of inaction, he said.
"We'll be back at $4 gasoline, I promise you," Pickens said. "It may not be this year, but it sure will be next year."