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| Imus:”Pickens Plan Makes Sense to Me!” |
| 10.26.08 (4:29 pm) |
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Morning Man Don Imus says Boone is on to something with the Pickens Plan and praises the million strong Pickens Plan Army. Come to Nashville for the Pickens Plan RFD-TV Live Town Hall Meeting with Boone, Wednesday, October 29 at 9pm eastern. Check your local cable listings for the channel. Also on Direct TV and DISH.
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| Nearly Nine-in-Ten Voters Support T. Boone Pickens’ Energy Plan |
| 10.24.08 (3:09 pm) |
Washington, DC-- October 24, 2008 – A national survey of voters released by Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research found overwhelming support for the Pickens Plan. Nearly nine-in-ten voters agree that it is important that the Pickens Plan be included in an overall strategy to deal with our energy problems.
The voters surveyed also expressed a strong belief that solar power, wind power, and natural gas will be the top three energy resources to solve the nation’s energy problems, with oil imported from other countries ranking last on the list.
“Even in tough economic times energy issues remain front and center on the American agenda,” said Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican pollster. “Americans believe the nation is facing an energy crisis and they aren’t looking to imported foreign oil to solve the problem. Rather, they put their faith in a future based on renewable energy sources: solar, wind, hydroelectric power; and increasing domestic sources of natural gas and oil."
"On energy independence, the public 'gets it' and demands that something be done,” adds Democrat Peter D. Hart of Peter D. Hart Research. “With its focus on renewable wind energy, the Pickens Plan is right on target, and the public, Democrats, Republicans and political independents, overwhelmingly supports it."
The Pickens Plan would reduce foreign oil dependency, which is currently 70 percent of the United States’ imports by more than one-third. Much of this oil is acquired from some of the most volatile countries in the world, putting our national security and economic security at risk. The Pickens Plan calls for investing in power generation from domestic renewable resources such as wind and using our abundant supplies of natural gas as a transportation fuel in heavy-duty fleets, replacing more than one-third of our imported oil, saving more than $230 billion a year.
The survey, conducted from October 7-12, 2008, underscores the growing national concern about the energy crisis and a remarkably high level of confidence in the Pickens Plan as a viable solution. The survey highlights the following:
1. Voters are clear: America is facing an energy crisis.
More than half of voters (54%) say America is going through a real energy crisis right now, and another 32% say the country has serious energy problems. Just 10% say our energy problems are not serious, and a mere 3% say the country does not have an energy problem. A majority of Republicans (52%), Independents (57%), and Democrats (54%) all agree the country is in an energy crisis.
2. Energy is considered more of a national security/economic issue.
While one-third (34%) of voters believe energy is a national security issue, 29% say it is an economic issue, 18% say it is an environmental issue, and 16% volunteer the response that it is a mix of all three of these issue areas.
3. Wind and solar top the list to solve the nation’s energy problems.
Voters were asked to rate nine different energy sources on a scale of one to ten with one meaning that energy source could contribute very little to solving America’s energy problem and ten meaning it could contribute a great deal. Solar and wind power, top the list, with natural gas, domestic oil production and hydro-electric power closely bunch in the next spot, and oil imported from foreign countries falling to the bottom.
(% 8-10) Contribute a lot/great deal
Solar power
61%
Wind power
57%
Natural gas
50%
Domestic oil production
49%
Hydro-electric power
48%
Nuclear power
39%
Coal
30%
Ethanol and biofuels
30%
Oil imported from foreign countries
16%
4. Voters believe The Pickens Plan will help solve our energy problems and that it should be included as part of an overall energy strategy.
Nearly three-fourths of voters (74%) say The Pickens Plan will contribute “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to helping solve America’s energy problems. And, almost nine-in-ten voters (87%) say it is important – with a majority (51%) saying it is “very” important – for The Pickens Plan to be included in an overall strategy to deal with our energy problems. There is broad agreement across party lines on these measures:
The Pickens Plan
Republicans
Independents
Democrats
It will contribute "a great deal/a fair amount" to solving America's energy problem.
68%
76%
77%
It is "very/somewhat" important that it is part of an overall strategy to deal with our nation’s energy situation.
86%
86%
89%
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| Pickens, Gore and Natural Gas |
| 10.20.08 (6:36 am) |
It always surprises me how any issue can be made to be divisive in some way. Even clean energy, despite it's universal importance to the future of our planet, can serve as a tool for the media to create controversy and to divide the people. It is interesting to look from that perspective at the treatment that has been given by the media to two men, T. Boone Pickens and Al Gore, who have both launched almost simultaneous campaigns which are aimed to focus public attention on the energy issue and to begin to draw a roadmap toward our common future.
T. Boone Pickens is often painted as a rich man looking to make himself richer and although Pickens is indeed wealthy and does have financial stakes in both the wind and natural gas industries he doesn't need to spend millions on a national campaign in order to make money. Natural gas sales are showing no signs of slowing down and he has already financed his wind farm in Texas. So what could be motivating him to spend millions on this public initiative? Perhaps it is pretty much just like Pickens says; he wants to wean America off foreign oil and onto new, sustainable energy sources and he sees the need for a national commitment to this future which goes beyond what even he can do all by himself and his Pickens Plan is the best way that he can come up with to start this process today, not in 5 or 10 years.
Al Gore, despite being on the corporate board of both google and Apple, writing a bestselling book which was later made into a movie and winning the Nobel Prize, is on the other hand is seen as more of a "man of the people" who is promoting totally green solutions such as solar and wind without any ties to the bad old days of fossil fuels or financial gain to himself. Does Al Gore have a financial interest in this process though, or is he just running his We Campaign out of his deep moral convictions as is often the way the media paints him? The answer may surprise many of you.
Al Gore (along with Colin Powell) recently became partners in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. This is the same firm that financed the startup of google. Now they are interested in greentech and funding the startups of companies who are developing new energy technologies. Obviously then, having the United States move into a green energy economy would have tremendous financial benefits for KPCB, the companies they fund and for Al Gore personally. I think that it is safe to say that Mr. Gore stands to see a huge financial profit from the success of his campaign just as much if not more than T. Boone Pickens does.
What about the differences in the types of energy that the two campaigns promote? Most people think that Al Gore is all about totally green energy while Pickens advocates the use of natural gas (a fossil fuel) as a bridge to a totally green future. Would it surprise you to learn that Al Gore is also (at least by proxy) a big supporter of natural gas as a "green" fuel? It certainly did me.
I recently read a story on KPCB in the October 5th edition of the New York Times, Weekend Magazine that clued me in on this marriage between Al Gore and natural gas. It seems that KPBR has heavily funded a firm called Bloom Energy which the Times calls, "one of Kleiner Perkins’s biggest green-tech bets". Bloom Energy has developed a solid oxide fuel cell which uses natural gas as its primary fuel source. They see this fuel cell being installed in people's basements to provide 100% of the power for the home and, according to a story in ecogeek "Bloom Energy is looking to install 100 Kilowatt power units in everyone's houses. These will be flex-fuel, but likely running mostly on natural gas. They will also probably produce heat, and cooling, as well as power, making the devices roughly 85% efficient (thus generating two times less greenhouse gas emissions than a power plant per unit of power used.)".
Obviously, if this is the case, Al Gore is just as dependent as Pickens is on natural gas as a bridge to our energy future and both stand to make financial profits if we choose to adopt their respective plans. I don't see anything wrong with this though because that is part of our free market system and anyone who wants to invest in these same technologies or even the same companies can certainly find an avenue to do so and thereby share in the profits.The final analysis is that both T. Boone Pickens and Al Gore are accomplishing great things in their efforts to lead America toward a new energy future and both seem to be directing us into very similar pathways with natural gas being an important bridge fuel. I think that the media needs to get their facts straight and stop bashing either of these men without bashing both equally if bashing is what they need to do to in order to sell commercials.
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| Pickens Plan Citizens Video Contest |
| 10.19.08 (11:39 am) |
"You have watched my ads and now I want to watch yours!" T. Boone Pickens wants you to MAKE YOUR OWN ENERGY AD to push the candidates to endorse the Pickens Plan.
Visit www.youtube.com/pickensplan to submit your entry.
CONTEST GUIDELINES
Make a citizens video that will push the candidates to hear our voices and commit to the Pickens Plan!
We want you to be creative with music, video and pictures, but be respectful. The video should be no more than 60 seconds long.
To submit your entry, please use your personal YouTube account to upload a video and submit a "video response" to the "Pickens Plan Citizens Video Contest" video message from Boone at www.youtube.com/pickensplan. Entries are due by Midnight EDT on October 25, 2008.
On Monday, October 27, we will announce 5 finalists to be voted on by you.The winner will be featured on the Pickens Plan website in the week leading up to Election Day.
So, hurry up, make your video and send the Presidential candidates a message directly from you!
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