T. Boone Pickens hits road with energy plan

BY JAY F. MARKS Comments 6
Published: October 25, 2009

Outspoken oilman T. Boone Pickens is coming home to his alma mater with his much-discussed plan to overhaul the country’s energy policies.

T. Boone Pickens

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Follow the meeting

T. Boone Pickens’ town hall meeting Thursday will be streamed live on NewsOK.com.

NewsOK will also have a live chat with Washington Bureau reporter Chris Casteel, plus a representative of the Pickens Plan.

Readers will also be able to catch highlights from the town hall on Twitter by following @OKenergybeat

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"The single biggest crisis facing America today is without question our ever-growing dependence on foreign oil from hostile nations. We continue to put our economy and security in danger,” Pickens said recently.

"Developments in the Middle East with Iran once again underscore the grave risk our country faces if we do not move to address this issue.”

Pickens will conduct a town hall meeting Thursday at Oklahoma State University.

"The time is right, and we are seeing positive movement in Washington, D.C., to reverse decades of inaction with smart initiatives to use American-produced energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar to power our economy,” he said.

Pickens unveiled a detailed solution for ending the United States’ growing dependence on foreign oil in July 2008. It calls for investing in power generation from domestic renewable resources such as wind and using America’s abundant supply of natural gas as a transportation fuel, a step that would replace more than a third of the country’s imported oil.

The Pickens Plan has drawn more than 1.6 million followers through its Web site, www.pickensplan.com. According to a Pickens news release, the site has had nearly 20 million visitors.

OSU President Burns Hargis said he is pleased Pickens is bringing his message to his alma mater’s campus.

"No one in recent memory has done more to bring energy to the forefront of our nation’s conscience than Boone Pickens,” Hargis said. "His passionate effort has literally changed the conversation about energy to focus on our need to build a new energy future based on American alternative and renewable energy sources.

Pickens has addressed people at town hall meetings across the country since introducing his energy plan last year. This will be the second one in Oklahoma.

More than 2,000 people attended an August 2008 town hall in McAlester.

The Stillwater meeting is set for 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m.

Parking is available on the north side of the football stadium bearing Pickens’ name.