Will the "REAL" T Boone please stand up?

[lshuster]

I was sorry to see none of these issues were addressed at the recent Pickens Plan "Town Meeting," held in Salt Lake City.

(Also posted in Image Gallery).

[jetboatjohnny]

Re: Will the "REAL" T Boone please stand up?

Good one!!!!!

[CNGLO]

Re: Will the "REAL" T Boone please stand up?

Nicely done!

[peafarmer]

Re: Will the "REAL" T Boone please stand up?

All, I am a bit new here...is #5 (we manufacture our own ngv's) referring to T. Boone's interest in Westport?

Andy

[wrenchmonkey]

Re: Will the "REAL" T Boone please stand up?

So what if someone wants to come in and dominate a market that's, in the past, been dominated by a whole lot of NOTHING!

If they can dump a few billion dollars into CNG, and turn it into something that the American public can actually use, then I say good for them! It's got to be profitable, if anybody's going to actually do anything with CNG.

We sit around and complain about how hard it is to get CNG, about how we don't have any lobbyists on the side of CNG, about how there's little-to-no fueling infrastructure, about how the vehicles are so hard to come by...

And then start crying foul when a business man tries to come in and offer all of the above. GROW UP!

And even if they were to buy up every gas line in the nation, they still would not be able to price control everything. A little something called "Deregulation" [FERC Order 380] prevents someone from gaining a monopoly over natural gas, via pipelines. Any gas company can sell gas to anybody, and let it travel through ANYBODY'S pipeline in the U.S., as long as they pay a fair usage and maintenance fee to the owners of the pipelines--so that the pipeline owners aren't stuck footing the bill for upkeep of the lines, and everybody else using their lines for nothing.

So even if Pickens, Et Al, were to buy up every natural gas pipeline in the country, and assume the responsibility of upkeep and maintenance, they still couldn't keep Joe Wellhead owner, from selling you natural gas at a competitive price.

They can't corner the market on CNG filling stations either, unless NOBODY else out there decides to build them... Of course, nobody seems to be taking the initiative to do that now or in the near future, so if they corner the market on refueling for a few years, I say good for them.

Maybe they'll encourage others to get their act together, and start building more of the same.

[delgriffith]

Re: Will the "REAL" T Boone please stand up?

I suspect that those who are complaining just don't like the oversimplified version of the truth that he preaches. As I mentioned in another thread, American companies are involved in every aspect of the world wide petroleum industry from the oil field to the gas station. So I gotta figure that what he's calling "The largest transfer of wealth in history" is actually coming right back into the USA through American companies like Exxon, Halliburton, Baker-Hughes, Schlumberger etc. Additionally, believe it or not Saudi Arabia is FULL of American cars. They love Chevy Caprices and Suburbans over there and they are getting money to buy those American cars somewhere... where could that be? I'd even go so far as to say that the most effective tool the USA has against extremism is trading with these countries. Saudi Arabia has definitely been influenced a ton by American technology and media over the years - I spent 2001 to 2006 over there, and saw the changes first hand.

I suppose Pickens' oversimplified explanation is what is necessary in order to get the support of the unwashed masses that is required in order to get things to move on CNG. But that irritates me somewhat. I've got no trouble supporting him even if his motives aren't entirely altruistic.