Boone Pickens:pumping His Own Energy Plan

Discussion in 'Trading' started by dsq, Jul 9, 2008.

  1. dsq

    dsq

    HE is pumping his own national energy plan on TV ads now but he forgets to mention that he has a conflict of interest since he is a recent investor of natural gas and wind projects.I think he s right about needing a plan but promoting it AFTER he invests billions in ng and wind is what stockbrokers call FRONTRUNNING.
     
  2. by Charles Barton

    "Texas Oil Billionaire T. Boone Pickens has come up with a really bad energy plan. I have to wonder if Pickens has had too many of his little gray cells die lately. Pickens is big on wind, something his oil business competition has known for a long time. Pickens is now investing in government subsidies. Excuse me, did i say that. I'm so sorry. It must have been a slip pf my fingers on the keyboard. Pickens is investing in wind farms through which he expects to receive billions of dollars in government subsidies. See there, I made it all better.


    Pickens has an energy ideas that is as substantial as a tumbleweed in a West Texas Wind. Pickens idea is to replace the use of natural gas in electrical generation with wind generated electricity. The natural gas could then be diverted to powering cars. Natural gas could thus replace foreign oil in our energy economy. Well what is wrong with Pickens plan?


    First, how much natural gas would we really save by building massive wind generating facilities? The answer is not very much. Natural gas is used in electrical generation primarily to produce peak electricity. My readers will perhaps recall, that I have pointed out at least 100 times, that there is an inverse relationship between Texas winds, and peak electrical demands. Thus the more Texas consumers want electricity, the less the wind will blow. Peak electricity is mainly generated in Texas by burning natural gas. How much natural gas will Pickens windmills' save? Very little. Pickens does not know this? Pickens does not have any advisors who have looked wind's pathetically poor peak demand performance? Don't any of Pickens retainers have any analytic skills at all? What do the guys who are suppose to provide the smarts of the Pickens organization do all day long? Drink and play cards?

    Secondly, Pickens gets all the problems wrong. We don't just need to replace imported oil, we need to replace all fossil fuels. Even if we had no reason to worry about global warming, which we do, there are plenty of reasons to not depend long term of fossil fuels. And Pickens is not going to sell Congress on his take on Global Warming. He might put it over on his Facebook "friends," but not on Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

    It seems that while Pickens failed to provide money in his plan budget to hire first rate energy thinkers, He has budgeted a lot of money for a slick advertising campaign. There is a Facebook page devoted to Pickens and his plan. You can see T Boone talking about his plan on YouTube. The Pickens Plan has its own internet social network. Like the River Platt of Nebraska, Pickens appears to be an inch deep, and a mile wide at the mouth.

    Needless to say, Pickens has not provided us with "a judicious determination of the facts." Pickens is taking a post modern approach. As long as you have a good story, and get it before the public, facts don't matter.

    So what Is Pickens up too? Well Pickens would make a killing with his scheme. First he would be assured a long term government subsidy for his wind investment, and then he would turn right around and ask the government for a big fat oilman's welfare check, when he drills for natural gas. Is T. Boone really that cynical? Would a guy who is already worth three billion dollars come up with such an absurd plan. Did Pickens watch The Honeymooners in his youth, and now thinks he is channeling Ralph Kramden?"

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/9/12519/64503
     
  3. Nah, he's not in it for the money.

    Dudes like 100 years old and is already a billionaire. More wealth is of no concern. This is his way of leaving this country in better shape and on a better path when he's gone.
     
  4. harkm

    harkm

    Totally agree. At least SOMEBODY has a plan.
     
  5. His plan may not be perfect but it beats congress's plan, which is to rail about evil speculators but vote against any viable means of producing actual energy.

    As a general rule, you probably shouldn't get energy advice from Daily Kos, a cesspool of koolaid slurpers who seem to lack basic reasoning skills but compensate with white hot anger over the conspiracy theory du jour.

    Boone makes one very valid point. We really don't need to be sending $700 billion a year to people who finance al qaeda. To me, that seems a bigger concern than some fanciful global warming save the whales sloganeering.
     
  6. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    At this point almost any plan is better than the NO plan ( no drilling, no alternatives, no stringent fuel mileage requirements...) we have now.
    Congress is too busy looking for scapegoats (speculators) to do their fucking jobs.

    Pickens has already admitted he would profit from his plan. My gut says it's not his only motivation. I think he's genuinely
    concerned, as we all should be.
     
  7. Pickens doesn't need the money, nor will he likely be around to see the $ roll in from his wind farms. From what little I've heard, there's some sense to it all.

    P.S. I rented a car in Los Angeles last weekend and ended up with a Prius hybrid. My first time driving a hybrid and now I'm totally hooked on the concept. I got 45 MPG driving around the city. If there had been a big push to switch to hybrids several years ago, we'd be well on our way to reducing oil for motor fuel by 25+%. Much better than trying to drill out of the problem.
     
  8. I am astounded by how naive some people here are. On a site devoted to making money by taking it from others, no less.

    The OP's article is right on the mark less a few bizarre (ostensibly joking) statemtents about the inverse relationship between wind and peak energy use.

    I heard a long radio commercial for T.Bone's "plan" today on a very popular radio station during peak lunch time. NOBODY, I MEAN NOBODY BUYS NATIONAL TV AND RADIO TIME because he is such an alruistic saint that he simply wants to better the world. For all you gullible kids out there: do you think this is the way those like T.Bone grew to billionare status?? Please. I don't buy this "I don't care about money" lie. I suspect the dollar that gets T.Bone more exited that any he has ever made...is the next one.

    Whenever these snakes come out on the talking head shows--or talk at all--you can rest assured that there is a pot of gold waiting at the end the subsidy rainbow for them. This slickster wants YOUR money (via government subsidies) to enrich HIMSELF. But he is so street smart he knows the proper sequence calls for winning you over via emotion before the next steps. It sure seems like he's accomplishing his mission with some on this site.

    I think wind energy is a great idea and I love capitalism. I'm all for T.Bone making money on this venture. But if the concept is not profitable (i.e. needs subsidies) then it is not a "sustainable" business concept. Think about it: out of 6+ BILLION people on the planet who would like to make our standard of living better, who better than a billionare like TB to take the plunge WITH HIS OWN MONEY into alternative energy? Use your own money, T.Bone!

    No, we don't need Congress wasting our tax dollars on speculative longshots like wind energy or pie-in-the-sky ideas about pumping hydrogen into our cars. I personally don't want to drive a car with a high-pressure hydrogen tank a few feet from my body, but that's another story. What we need are for our congressional morons to open up drilling to put more oil SUPPLY into the marketplace and existing oil infrastructure. Why aren't they doing it?
     
  9. For all you guys who are concerned that Boone may make a profit, get a clue! This is the USA. We alledgedly have a capitalistic system. For those of you who don't know what that is, it means "someone profits".

    Who the hell cares whether Boone profits? I got news for you. Boone will probably profit over the years on both natural gas and wind, whether we adopt his plan as a country or not. So what?

    You guys need to get over whether someone makes some money, and start worrying about how we are going to solve this problem. At least Boone took a step and came up with a plan! And I gotta tell you, I trust a plan more if a guy is doing it for a profit, than one that some do-gooder comes up with that he is going to put into play as a favor to us all.

    OldTrader

    EDIT: By the way, where is Charles Barton's plan?
     
  10. Excellent Commentary, Old Trader

    Oldtrader wrote....

    For all you guys who are concerned that Boone may make a profit, get a clue! This is the USA. We alledgedly have a capitalistic system. For those of you who don't know what that is, it means "someone profits".

    Who the hell cares whether Boone profits? I got news for you. Boone will probably profit over the years on both natural gas and wind, whether we adopt his plan as a country or not. So what?

    You guys need to get over whether someone makes some money, and start worrying about how we are going to solve this problem. At least Boone took a step and came up with a plan! And I gotta tell you, I trust a plan more if a guy is doing it for a profit, than one that some do-gooder comes up with that he is going to put into play as a favor to us all.

    OldTrader

    EDIT: By the way, where is Charles Barton's plan?
    ......................................................................

    At least somebody gets it.....the others will get it when they fill up their tank with nat gas.....and air condition/heat their house with wind electricity....skins in the game....from all sides

    And the naysayers will be remain part of never ending babbling
    idiocy that always buys at the top ...and sells at the bottom....

    Things never change....

    Watch what happens in the next 120 months.......

    Go Boone go !!!!!
    ........................................................................


    Hats off to Boone !!!!!!
     
    #10     Jul 10, 2008