Pickens’ energy plans has skeptics

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Since the United States has no energy plan, billionaire energy investor T. Boone Pickens has proposed his own.

First, the U.S. should wean itself off foreign oil and switch to domestic resources, beginning with natural gas, Boone said, outlining the basics of the “Pickens Plan” at a talk at the Yale University Law School last week.

Pickens told Yale students they should do their part by making sure their next car is one that runs on domestic resources. Currently, only one such domestic car, the Honda Civic CX, runs solely on natural gas.

To amp up the market, the Pickens Plan calls for passing federal legislation that would give $65,000 tax credits to natural gas-fueled 18-wheel trucks. Pickens said he wants to replace all heavy duty diesel trucks in the U.S. this way, and he hopes consumer vehicle markets will follow suit.

Since transportation is responsible for 70 percent of oil consumption, Pickens said his plan would put a sizeable dent in U.S. foreign oil demand.

Electric cars “are the final answer,” Pickens said, but Americans will use natural gas for the next 20 to 30 years until technology prices come down.

“I don’t want to get off Saudi oil and end up on Chinese batteries,” Pickens said.

But his plan has its share of critics, who question how feasible its implementation is and wonder if the threats it poses to the environment don’t outweigh the economic benefits.

Attorney Lee Hoffman, who sat on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy‘s energy policy working group, said there isn’t enough natural gas infrastructure to support 18-wheelers that make cross-country trips.

But Pickens, who vehemently believes in the free market, said the infrastructure would follow the equipment.

Hoffman questioned whether the country is willing to withstand the “fits and starts” of the market as the infrastructure is developed. Most people will be hesitant to buy a natural gas car if fueling stations aren’t widespread, he said.

Others wonder if the environmental risk of “hydrofracking,” the process by which natural gas is extracted from the ground, is worth decreasing dependence on foreign oil. Hydrofracking requires millions of gallons of water, and questioned if it was the best use of a dwindling resource.

Environmental groups say when millions of gallons of water are injected into the ground to extract natural gas, a large number of toxic chemicals are used in the process, and nearby drinking water aquifers are contaminated.

“I’ve fracked over 3,000 wells,” Pickens said in a press briefing after his talk. “…I’ve never messed up any aquifer.”

Concerns over hydrofracking are stalling potential drilling in Pennsylvania and New York. Drilling in those regions would make more natural gas available to Connecticut.

Joe Glowienka, a former corporate energy economist, said, “am I willing to say, in interest of avoiding groundwater contamination in other states, am I willing to shortchange the state on energy?”

For Glowienka, who is the president of the conservation group Connecticut Council of Trout Unlimited, the answer is yes. “I’m not convinced the drillers know what is going on,” in terms of environmental damage, he said.

Despite the criticism, Pickens is confident his plan will be successful.

“My case is made,” Pickens said. “We’re going to natural gas. It’s going to happen.”

Pickens has spent millions of dollars over the last three years raising awareness about his plan.

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