One year later, we still import too much oil

T. Boone Pickens says the United States cannot continue importing 70
percent of the oil it uses.

On July 8, 2008, oil prices were in the range of $140 a barrel, the
economy was showing its first cracks of weakness and both major
political parties had effectively chosen their nominees — yet no one
was talking about the economic, environmental or national security
issues that our growing addiction to foreign oil were presenting.

So I developed and introduced the Pickens plan. And then I hit the
road. In the past year, we’ve been on the road for 163 days, doing 170
events in 74 cities in 35 states, including 22 town hall meetings.

When we started, the United States was on pace to spend $700 billion a
year on foreign oil. That was in the same range as the $787 billion
stimulus package adopted in February 2009.

The difference is, even with oil now about half the price it was last
July, we are spending more than $350 billion — not just as a one-time
expenditure, but every year — to pay for imported oil that will not
create a single new job in America, won’t repair a single bridge and
won’t repave a single highway.

We are still importing nearly 70 percent of the oil we use. Much of it
comes from countries that are in unstable regions or that are
unfriendly to the United States — or both.

We can’t go on importing that much oil, no matter what the price.
Foreign oil is too dangerous and too expensive. The time to change is
now.

In July 2008, there was nothing moving on a national energy plan.
Since we’ve been promoting the Pickens plan, there has been action on
tax credits for wind and solar. We’ve got a “green bank” moving
forward. Bills have been introduced to build a 21st-century electric
transmission grid. And H.R. 1835 promises to change the way we use
natural gas as a primary transportation fuel.

We don’t use much oil to generate electricity. The vast majority of
the oil we import goes to gasoline and diesel for our 250 million cars
and light trucks and our 6.5 million heavy trucks. Only one fuel can
replace diesel for 18-wheelers: natural gas.

By providing incentives to change 350,000 heavy trucks from diesel to
natural gas, we can cut our oil imports by about 4 percent. That’s
just the beginning. Once we build momentum, manufacturing costs will
drop and replacement rates will rise.

We have plenty of natural gas. The huge amounts of natural gas
contained in the shale deposits under Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and
Appalachia have helped drive America’s natural gas reserves to more
than a century’s worth.

A recent study by the Potential Gas Committee found that there are
2,074 trillion cubic feet of domestic natural gas reserves — the
equivalent of nearly 350 billion barrels of oil, about the same as
Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.

Natural gas produces virtually no particulate emissions (compared with
diesel fumes), and the greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are
30 percent lower than gasoline.

The goal is to move cars and light trucks to battery or hydrogen as
quickly as possible. We’ll get there, but a battery will not move an
18-wheeler.

School or municipal bus fleets, refuse and recycling trucks, express
delivery and taxi fleets — indeed, any fleet that goes back to “the
barn” each night — can be refueled with natural gas, which is the most
widely distributed resource in America.

The U.S. House is considering the NAT GAS Act of 2009, which would
provide incentives to truckers, local and state governments, as well
as other public and private organizations, to immediately begin
replacing their fleets of vehicles burning dirty imported oil with
vehicles running on clean, domestic natural gas. It’s a great bill
that every elected official should support.

Source: POLITICO/ One year later, we still import too much oil

About the Potential Gas Committee

The Potential Gas Committee, an incorporated, nonprofit organization, consists of knowledgeable and highly experienced volunteer members who work in the natural gas exploration, production and transportation industries and in the field and technical services and consulting sectors. The Committee also benefits from the input of respected technical advisors and various observers from federal and state government agencies, academia, and industry and research organizations in both the United States and Canada. Although the PGC functions independently, the Potential Gas Agency at the Colorado School of Mines provides the Committee with guidance, technical assistance, training and administrative support, and assists in member recruitment and outreach. The Potential Gas Agency receives financial support from prominent E&P and gas pipeline companies and distributors, as well as industry trade and research organizations and unaffiliated individuals.

Posted by: C. Keddy

Short URL: http://naturalgasforamerica.com/?p=523

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