September 01, 2008
T. Boone Pickens is full of @#it
If you've been watching TV during this campaign season, you've probably seen billionaire T. Boone Pickens' ads for increased use of wind power to satisfy America's energy demands, wrapped in a easy-to-swallow coating of "wean us off foreign oil" rhetoric.
I'll tell you why he's full of crap in a minute, but let me first note that he's no dummy. This billionaire didn't make -- and keep -- his fortune by being stupid, and this campaign proves that he's cunning like a fox, given that he stands to make additional billions on wind-powered electricity, thanks to his ownership of corporations involved in ... can you guess? ... wind-powered electrical production.
Now, why do I say he's feeding the public a steaming pile of hooey?
It's this line from the ad that gives away the game.
Pickens then appears and says, "And the big debate in Washington is whether or not to drill. I say, drill, drill, drill. But the debate misses the point: Either way, we'll still be dependent on foreign oil ..."
Here's where the manure meets the road.
The premise that undergirds his entire argument -- that the United States only has 3 percent of the world's oil reserves -- is false. It's misleading. It's a scam.
The U.S. does indeed have 3 percent of the global oil reserves. Today. After nearly 40 years of Democrats and eco-weenies doing everything possible to block increased domestic oil production.
When demand for oil goes up, and America's oil reserves are placed off-limits, then imported oil is the natural source.
But what Pickens doesn't tell you is that American oil reserves -- including shale oil -- exceed the capacity all the known oil fields in the world. Including past production, dating back to when they first began pumping crude more than 80 years ago.
So, notwithstanding Pickens' line that increased domestic drilling for oil won't do anything to save us from foreign oil, the reality is that we have enough crude within our own borders to satisfy our energy needs for the foreseeable future, certainly long enough to carry us until we get nuclear reactors up and running in numbers sufficient to replace coal-generated powerplants.
But then again, Pickens isn't in a position to profit from those technologies, which is why he's pushing so hard for wind power.
He's got one thing right: Drill, drill, drill.
Posted by Mike Lief at September 1, 2008 03:56 PM
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Comments
This is pure hot wind coming from his pie hole. The only green he cares about is the greenback.
Posted by: Bart at September 1, 2008 08:12 PM