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Pickens: We are paying for both sides of the Iraqi war

Posted 23 Jul 2008 in Iraq, oil and gas, war

There’s a little bit of scaremongering in Pickens’ testimony, but with gas prices doubling over the past two years, he might not be too far from wrong. As to the $700 billion per year that we’re hemorrhaging, it’s time to staunch the flow.

WASHINGTON — In T. Boone Pickens’ war on terror, the enemy is foreign oil.

Pickens, the Republican Texas oil mogul, testified Tuesday before a Senate panel to lay out his new, self-titled “Pickens Plan” to boost renewable energy sources, get the U.S. transportation sector off oil and cut U.S. use of foreign petroleum.

Pickens told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that aside from getting away from foreign oil, he’s for just about anything, from electric cars — like those advocated by Al Gore — to offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Recalling a conversation he recently had with Gore, Pickens told the panel: “I said, ‘I’m for everything that’s American.’ … I only have one enemy, and that’s foreign oil. That’s what I want to get rid of.”

He added: “I am convinced we are paying for both sides of the Iraqi war.”

Making the change is necessary, Pickens said, because continuing to rely on foreign oil will result in $300 per barrel price at America’s current consumption trends. He also said he believes U.S. national security is in dire straits with roughly $700 billion annually heading overseas to the Middle East and unfriendly countries like Venezuela in exchange for crude.

Pickens said installing wind farms, and later solar power facilities in the midsection of the United States, with government help, could produce 20 percent of electricity consumed domestically. That would alleviate the need to use natural gas to make electricity.

Under the Pickens Plan, natural gas along with biofuels would power all transportation, reducing foreign oil dependence — according to Pickens’ numbers — by one-third.

Another panelist warned that Pickens’ sketch is by no means flawless, although he agreed with the principle that America is far too dependent on foreign energy sources and should boost the use of renewable energy.

Let’s hope it doesn’t take $10/gallon gasoline (or the Democrats’ proposed tax hike on gas) to wake us up.

Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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