Pickens on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money
Articles — By forcechange on October 17, 2008 5:00 am
T. Boone Pickens appeared on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money last night. Cramer, an avid supporter of the Pickens Plan, discussed with Boone his plan as well as the current failure of leadership in Washington. Here are some of the highlights:
Cramer introduced the Pickens Plan as a “Marshall plan for power.”
Focusing in on a key problem, Cramer asked Pickens why it was that the Plan was not resonating with leaders in Washington. Pickens responded that he’s met with them and it just doesn’t make sense that they are not more supportive. Pickens wondered how it was that both candidates could boot the “softball” question given to them on eliminating our dependence on foreign oil in the debates on Wednesday. He noted that both McCain and Obama could only give a meek assertion that within 10 years we could be off of Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil. Pickens was upset that this was a much too conservative goal that didn’t even really answer the question.
Cramer then asked Pickens how everyday people can help make the case for the Plan. Pickens noted that his website has already signed up 1.25 million supporters and he is asking them, along with the rest of the public to demand that our leaders give us a real plan. Pickens, historically a Republican, noted “I don’t care if you’re for Obama or McCain, they have to give us an energy plan.”
In response to the concern that lower gas prices may be lowering the will for change in the U.S., Pickens replied that even with these lower prices, our dependency is still the same, which continues to provide a national security problem.
Then Cramer questioned Pickens about potential sources of energy other than wind and natural gas. Taking a page out of Al Gore’s handbook, Pickens wryly noted that “clean coal is an oxymoron.” Additionally, he pointed out, if you go down the list of the 12 major natural resources present in America, only one of them has the ability to replace oil, and that is natural gas. Pickens says that McCain objects that he does not want to “pick the winner” (i.e., mandate that natural gas should be used over other alternatives), but that in reality, no choice is required since natural gas is the only natural resource that can fit the bill.
(Although Pickens did not address objections that electric cars could be a better solution, his traditional response is that battery technology is not yet adequate and that natural gas is only a bridge solution.)
Pickens did note, however, that natural gas is 80% cleaner burning than oil.
Cramer then raised the issue of the government’s recent $25 billion bailout of the Detroit automakers, wondering why that bill did not include a requirement for the development of natural gas technology. Pickens could only respond in amazement, “I really don’t know.”
Finally, Cramer asked Pickens how, with the current state of the economy, will we be able to afford the $1.2 trillion needed for the plan? Pickens responded that the development of the wind corridor could be done privately but that the government would need to provide a 10 year production tax credit. The real key Pickens noted, is that the next president needs to take the lead by saying “this is what we’re going to do… and that would kick it off and we’d be ready to go.”
[Here is a link to the video, but it forced me to watch a nice little greenwash from BP beforehand.]
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Cramer is crazy… but he is right about Pickens.
Leaders in Washington are at a loss and they need a solid plan to get them motivated into action. In other words, I don’t think they really know what to do without some direction.
I think that Picken’s plan provides that direction. It gives a solid base to start on using technologies which are already developed and available. Most of the “plans” you see make all sorts of wonderful projections for a green future but most are dependent on the development of new technologies which, in reality, may not happen in the near future and do nothing about where to begin today.
In addition Picken’s plan is one that asks for a commitment more then an investment. Commit to a green energy future, start today using the best things available and the market, not the taxpayer, will build the solutions.
Overall The Pickens Plan is the best, real world place to start building our green future. It would create a marketplace for green jobs to spring up like weeds in your garden. It doesn’t exclude any technology that can compete.
Electric cars are great and can be charged with wind energy but the big polluters like diesel trucks, trains and existing cars can’t so that is where natural gas comes in.
Natural gas can fuel all of these vehicles and vehicles which are converted to natural gas are 80% cleaner and can run on hydrogen or locally produced syngas as well as methane from landfills or sewage plants.
Imagine farmers running their equipment on methane which is produced by the animals on the farm! Imagine the fuel that runs your car being produced in your own neighborhood not half way around the world. All these things are possible with the commitment to do it.
Hi Jacob,
I think that they will because they HAVE to. They have put it off for as long as they can and public apathy has allowed them to do this as well as the lack of a viable pathway to get from here to there. The Pickens Plan has laid the foundation and to date they have one and a half million supporters/voters to add pressure. I think now is the time when these factors will combine into real action from our legislators.
@Mike, but the question is– how do we convince those leaders to actually implement the plan? They barely could pass the bailout which was to address an imminent threat, how will they ever come together to address something as comprehensive and long-term as our energy policy?
clean coal technology is not an oxymoron, Boone just has too many yes men to pay attention to who is on his plan. Pure Power Inc. has clean coal tech, and more.
It is truely insane to me that we though we had PLENTY of oil, 100s of year worth, pfffft.
Now we are going down the same road again with NG, WTF people didnt you learn the 1st time.
NG will not last 100s of years. Then what?
We must become more efficient, and clean up our messes. Thanks
Hi James,
Natural gas fueled vehicles can run on Syngas, a combination of carbon monoxide and hydrogen which is produced from carbon and water or on pure hydrogen. Converting to CNG now will allow those fuels to be used in the future. At that point we will never run out of fuel.