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SMU's Energy Institute Applauds Boone Pickens' Plan

Thomas Boone Pickens
Thomas Boone Pickens

By BJ Austin

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-728464.mp3

Dallas, TX – He's a man on a mission.

Pickens: I'm T-Boone Pickens. I've been an oilman all my life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of. And I have a plan.

Pickens has kicked off a multi million dollar media campaign to promote his idea to wean the U.S. from its 700 billion dollar a year dependence on foreign oil.

Among key provisions: replace gasoline with natural gas. Shift electricity power plans from natural gas to clean burning coal, wind, solar or nuclear.

Bob Bullock, director of SMU's McGuire Energy Institute says The Pickens Plan - fueled by the oilman's cash and clout - could FINALLY spark serious discussion about our energy crisis.

Bullock: We had an oil and gas industry that was essentially in a depression for 20 years; from the 80's. We're now paying the price for that. We've ignored these problems long enough.

Pickens is building the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle and owns a string of retail natural gas stations. But he says this is not about making more money.

He says it's about patriotism - and putting your money where your mouth is.