Jonathan Swift

Oil Is Still the Key to U.S. Economic Future

I haven't seen any evidence that Pickens has "given up" on his plan as indicated by "longoll" above.
I get weekly emails encouraging further action and laying out actions to do so. Anyone who agrees with Fitzimmons' suggestions should become involved in supporting the Pickens plan where there is some hope of actually accomplishing something:

While the price per barrel of oil has fallen over the past nine months, the percentage of oil we import has not. Over the past 12 months we have continued to import nearly two-thirds of the oil we use.

Most of the oil we import is used as a transportation fuel - cars, trucks, aircraft, boats and trains. About one barrel out of every five is used as diesel fuel to power heavy trucks - 18-wheelers.

I am all for developing battery, fuel cell technology and nuclear power or some other technology which is still in the laboratory stage. But the latter are not ready for widespread distribution to our national fleet of approximately 250 million cars and light trucks. The only fuel which is available to reduce our dependence on foreign oil is domestic natural gas.

Due to recent advances in technology, we now have the ability to recover natural gas from the enormous deposits in Texas, Louisiana and Appalachia in the lower 48 states. A recent CERA study showed there are enough proven reserves in the Continental United States to supply our needs for the foreseeable future.

Natural gas is cheaper than diesel fuel. Natural gas is cleaner than
diesel. And it's ours.

Congressmen Boren (D-OK), Larson (D-CT) and Sullivan (R-OK) recently introduced a bipartisan bill, the NAT GAS Act of 2009, to incentivize industry to replace older diesel trucks with newer natural gas vehicles - it's a great step in the right direction. It will provide the momentum for engine manufacturers, natural gas producers and natural gas distributors to ramp up and make a real difference in our dependence on foreign oil.

I hope everyone will take a look at this plan and help us push it further.

Oil Is Still the Key to U.S. Economic Future

How are the author's energy recommendations any different from the Boone Pickens plan?