A man with a plan for ending America's dependence on foreign oil launched a series of television ads Tuesday to begin generating support for his proposals.
That man was neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack Obama.
It was T. Boone Pickens.
Pickens is an 80-year-old businessman who is one of the world's richest people. He's a Texas oilman who chairs the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a takeover artist in the 1980s, was a big financial backer of George W. Bush's president campaigns and contributed $3 million to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's attacks on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in 2004. He considered running for president in 1988.
Given his resume, you might not expect Pickens to lead a movement away from oil consumption. But that's exactly what he's doing. It's disappointing that, thus far, neither major presidential candidate has displayed the leadership and ideas necessary to command what is becoming a defining issue of our generation.
Pickens says our addiction to foreign oil "threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people. The addiction has worsened for decades and now it's reached a point of crisis."
Pickens says the U.S. will send $700 billion out of the country this year alone for oil, four times the annual cost of the Iraq war. Projected out, the U.S. would spend $10 trillion over the next decade, "the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind," Pickens says.
The worst news? There isn't enough oil in the world to keep up with the demand. "The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone." This from an oilman, who should know.
Pickens' plan (www.pickensplan.com) relies heavily on wind power for electricity (he's planning to build the world's largest wind farm in parts of four Panhandle counties), and replaces gasoline with natural gas and bio-fuels for transportation.
"Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years," Pickens says. "But it will take leadership."
That, he said, must come from the next president. But while the campaign hasn't been devoid of talk about solutions to our energy crisis, the conversation has been sparse and mostly superficial. Americans want, need and deserve more. If either Barack Obama or John McCain can seize the opportunity to take the lead on energy solutions, he will win in November.
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy told the Congress and nation that America would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. His ambitious and visionary goal was achieved just more than eight years later.
A nation able to put a man on the moon in eight years four decades ago ought to be able to develop abundant, cheap and clean energy alternatives by the end of the next president's tenure.
It only requires leadership. Does either candidate have it?
That man was neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack Obama.
It was T. Boone Pickens.
Pickens is an 80-year-old businessman who is one of the world's richest people. He's a Texas oilman who chairs the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a takeover artist in the 1980s, was a big financial backer of George W. Bush's president campaigns and contributed $3 million to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's attacks on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in 2004. He considered running for president in 1988.
Given his resume, you might not expect Pickens to lead a movement away from oil consumption. But that's exactly what he's doing. It's disappointing that, thus far, neither major presidential candidate has displayed the leadership and ideas necessary to command what is becoming a defining issue of our generation.
Pickens says our addiction to foreign oil "threatens our economy, our environment and our national security. It touches every part of our daily lives and ties our hands as a nation and a people. The addiction has worsened for decades and now it's reached a point of crisis."
Pickens says the U.S. will send $700 billion out of the country this year alone for oil, four times the annual cost of the Iraq war. Projected out, the U.S. would spend $10 trillion over the next decade, "the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind," Pickens says.
The worst news? There isn't enough oil in the world to keep up with the demand. "The simple truth is that cheap and easy oil is gone." This from an oilman, who should know.
Pickens' plan (www.pickensplan.com) relies heavily on wind power for electricity (he's planning to build the world's largest wind farm in parts of four Panhandle counties), and replaces gasoline with natural gas and bio-fuels for transportation.
"Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years," Pickens says. "But it will take leadership."
That, he said, must come from the next president. But while the campaign hasn't been devoid of talk about solutions to our energy crisis, the conversation has been sparse and mostly superficial. Americans want, need and deserve more. If either Barack Obama or John McCain can seize the opportunity to take the lead on energy solutions, he will win in November.
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy told the Congress and nation that America would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. His ambitious and visionary goal was achieved just more than eight years later.
A nation able to put a man on the moon in eight years four decades ago ought to be able to develop abundant, cheap and clean energy alternatives by the end of the next president's tenure.
It only requires leadership. Does either candidate have it?
