Pickens Plan for Energy Independance

[Canuck]

Slim Pickens

Contrary to what T. Boone Pickens claims, the U.S. imports virtually no oil from its enemies

Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Oil imports are destroying the U. S., say a rising tide of alarmists in the U. S., chief among them T. Boone Pickens, the legendary oil man turned wind power developer. "It is a clear and growing threat to our national security, and our national economy," he testified to the U. S. Senate. "It has to be stopped. We are on the verge of losing our Super Power status."

To hear it from Pickens, who is mounting a national ad campaign to promote his wind power investments, it's even worse than that -- the U. S. is aiding and abetting its enemies.

"We don't buy all of our oil from our enemies. We do have some friends -- Canada and a few others. But most of the money that the world pays for oil goes into the hands of countries that are not our reliable allies. And some of that money is used right back against us in the war on terror. And so, we are funding the people who are trying to wreak havoc on this country."

Pickens is outrageously misleading. True, the U. S. does import most of its oil, but barely -- only 56.5% of net U. S. oil needs are now met from exports according to the most recent figures from the U. S. Energy Information Administration, not the 70% that Pickens' ads claim. Moreover, this "oil dependency," as it's called, is diminishing, not increasing, as Pickens claims, and precious little of it comes from countries that can be thought of as enemies of the U. S.

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/...html?id=718939