http://www.moneynews.com/newswidget/Pickens-Washington-natural-gas-energy/2013/04/04/id/497780?promo_code=FC2D-1&utm_source=NRMN&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1 T. Boone Pickens: Washington is ‘Incompetent’ on Energy Issues
Thursday, 04 Apr 2013 07:56 AM
By Dan Weil
Oil legend T. Boone Pickens, CEO of BP Capital Management Group, is trying to promote his plan for increased use of natural gas to Washington.
But it’s not taking, and he has a good idea as to why. “That is the largest group of, I hate to say this but I’m going to, incompetent people in one place in the world,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I give up on Washington.”
Editor's Note: Economist Warns: ‘Money From Heaven a Path to Hell.’ See Evidence.
Pickens says he has spent $100 million on his plan over the last five years. And while it hasn’t resulted in any legislation, it has helped Americans realize the potential of natural gas, he explained.
“It’s a cleaner, cheaper, abundant fuel produced in the U.S.,” Pickens said.
“If you want to bring the price of gasoline down, introduce another fuel — natural gas.”
On a separate subject, Pickens said the United States should approve construction of the Keystone XL oil Pipeline.
“You have to take the oil,” Pickens noted. “If you turn it down, it goes west into China. … We’re saps if we don’t.”
Responding to those who are concerned about the environmental safety of the pipeline, Pickens said, “This industry has the best safety record of any in the world.”
Meanwhile, U.S. oil and gas production have exploded in recent months with the onset of hydraulic fracking. And some experts say we may achieve energy independence by the end of the decade. That’s enhancing the United States’ global standing, they say.
"People are looking at the U.S. differently, seeing the U.S. as much more competitive in the world," energy analyst and author Dan Yergin told CNBC.
