Pickens left indelible mark on Obama
By JEFF LATZKE Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press
June 3, 2009, 5:18PM
Share Print Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponOKLAHOMA CITY — With a black Sharpie marker, T. Boone Pickens mapped out for Barack Obama the way to U.S. energy independence — right there on a white tablecloth.

It was a demonstration he wouldn't soon forget. After Pickens' wife encountered Obama at a function this week in Las Vegas, she relayed word that the president was still astounded by her husband's indelible markings.

But as he tours the country promoting his "Pickens Plan," the Texas billionaire is confident that Obama has done more than just remember his plea. He believes the president will make great strides this year in formulating an energy plan that is less reliant on countries that aren't friendly with the U.S.

"I know the man understands the problem and I know that he knows the solution, and I know that that's the direction we're headed and you are going to see this year the most progressive, monumental changes in energy policy in America you have ever seen," Pickens said Wednesday during a speech at a downtown Oklahoma City hotel.

"It's going to affect your life, mine, all of us in America."

Pickens used his speech at the annual Sovereignty Symposium to ask American Indians to support the construction of wind turbines and solar panels on tribal land as part of his goal to eliminate America's dependence on foreign oil. Pickens wants to convert the country's electrical supply to alternative sources like wind and solar power, which would then free up natural gas to fuel vehicles.

He said American Indians would be affected as wind farms spring up on the Plains from Oklahoma to the Canadian border and as solar technology gets installed in Southwest states from Texas to California.

"This is going to affect you, too. ... I encourage you to look at it closely. Don't try to stop it. Work out the best deal you can for yourself and let it happen," Pickens said.

Stating matter-of-factly that he's "done a very good job of predicting the price of oil" to build his fortune over the years, Pickens said current energy policy has America headed toward importing 75 percent of its oil at a cost of $300 per barrel by the year 2019. That would cost the U.S. more than $2 trillion annually, Pickens said.

"That is not sustainable. It is not possible," Pickens said. "Something has to change."

Pickens has worked with members of Congress to propose a bill outlining the plan he has been promoting since last summer with a series of town hall meetings across the country.

"We have to get our oar in the water. We have to make something happen. We have got to start getting on our own resources," Pickens said.

"It's way too easy and way too dangerous to continue to rely on the enemy for our resources. We cannot do that. And I do believe that this is teed up for President Obama. It's a big, fat ball sitting on a tee for him and I think he's going to knock it out of the park."

Pickens said that during his 90-minute meeting with Obama in August, the future president discussed his preference to use battery technology to power vehicles. Pickens said he explained to Obama that natural gas was the only American resource that could power an 18-wheeler.

"Natural gas is cleaner, it's cheaper, it's ours and it's abundant. Lucky break for us," Pickens said. "Lucky break. A window of opportunity, and I'm convinced this administration will not let that window close without us getting through it. We are going to have this happen."

Pickens also predicted that oil prices, which fell to $66.12 per barrel on Wednesday, would reach $75 by the end of the year and consumers would again see $3-per-gallon gasoline.

"Now the price of gasoline has gone down, but the dependency features still exist, so it's a security problem for us more than it is an economic problem," Pickens said. "So, today, we're importing just as much oil as we did a year ago."

"The No. 1 problem we have is security," he added. "There's no question that we're buying oil from the enemy and we're paying for both sides of a war."


Buck