If you’re like me you are intrigued by the Pickens Plan but don’t know what to make of this oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens trying to get us off foreign oil. What is his agenda? Is this some ploy for him to get richer at our expense? And what’s with the first initial in his name? Is there something wrong with his first name? Anyways, it sure seems like a good plan though on the surface. I am all for getting completely off foreign oil and he seems to be the only person doing anything about it. Natural gas cars? I’m ok with that. It’s a good temporary solution. Big problem though. There’s only one car in the U.S. that runs on natural gas, the Honda Civic GX. These cars are on backorder but you can convert your gasoline car to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) for about $2000. There are no fuel stations in Alabama which mean you need a home fueling station but you must stay close to home for now. How long will it take to add natural gas to all fuel stations? A home fueling station costs about $6000 to install. That $8000 dollars you need to spend to switch would buy a lot of gasoline. I think I’ll wait for the natural gas stations.
Wind energy? Ok. I’m not really sure how much energy can really be generated by wind alone but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Same with solar. I’m willing to support the Pickens Plan for now. We have to do something. What else should we do? Nuclear 1000%. It’s good enough for France and supposedly that’s what Iran wants to use it for. Yeah right. Nuclear is all-American, abundant, and clean. Zero emissions. Even though I don’t buy the global warming argument, I am all for reducing pollution if reasonably feasible. I would plug in my car if it meant the demise of the OPEC. I know the battery technology isn’t there yet, but I’m willing to bet it would not take too long to get it there. Never bet against American ingenuity. Coal is another good temporary solution for electricity since we have an awful lot of it.
What do I not like? Bio- fuels and hydrogen. Bio-fuels use up farm land and are subject to destruction by drought, frost, hurricanes, etc. This will probably lead to food shortages which we have already seen hints of with corn prices. And for your global warming, eco-warriors, bio-fuels will also produce carbon emissions. At first hydrogen fuel cells sounded like a great idea but hydrogen is derived from water. A water shortage is exactly what we don’t need.
As a capitalist, I’m all for Mr. Pickens getting rich with a great idea if it benefits all of us.
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