Young People, Energy Independence is Your Problem, Not My Problem: T. Boone Pickens

Young People, Energy Independence is Your Problem, Not My Problem: T. Boone Pickens
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 11.14.08

There may be some abiguity about the future time of the wind power portion of the Pickens Plan—is Pickens selling turbines, delaying the project indefinitely, or will there only be a slight delay?—but there’s no doubt about Pickens continuing his push for natural gas for transport.

In this clip from the Daily Show (apologies to people who can’t view Hulu clips because of where they live...) Stewart picks Pickens’ brain on whether we’ll have the leadership to have an energy revolution, on Pickens’ feelings about electric cars, and more insight into kicking the foreign oil habit. Check it out.

Note: It may seem like I'm picking on Pickens with the title of this post, but that's not the intent. He's essentially accurate: For people who are adults today and over perhaps the age of 45, the full impact of US energy independence falls on those of us who are younger. I may disagree with Pickens on some things, but not that.

The Pickens Plan
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Poll Shows the Pickens Publicity Plan is Working
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[12] Comments | Related Tags: energy | renewable energy | transportation | united states | wind power
Comments (12)
The title of this post definitely casts Pickens' statement in a negative light, but to me it seemed a perfectly innocent, factual claim- that he, at 80 years old, will not be around to see most of the effects and reap most of the benefits of energy independence. We, the younger generation that makes up much of Jon Stewart's audience, will, and we will be the ones paying the price if we continue to depend on scarce and foreign energy sources.

I was glad to see Pickens clarify that he likes hearing about electric and plug-in hybrid cars, and wants natural gas to be used in trucks and buses basically because we don't have the battery technology to drive an 18 wheeler very far on a charge. Which is true, and almost certainly will be for another few generations of truck, bus, and battery technology. And I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say he thinks the next administration will provide the leadership we need on energy issues.
November 14, 2008 12:27 PM | flag a problem

Anthony says:
I agree with most of what Pickens said, but the one remark I don't agree with was him saying (paraphrasing) Americans shouldn't have to walk out of necessity. If we don't curb our driving habits in favor of biking, bussing and walking, then alternative energy will not be enough on its own.
November 14, 2008 12:34 PM | flag a problem

mnmike says:
Yea, natural gas is all american and will be forever--exactly why we import 20% of our natural gas and are building massive LNG importing infrastructure. Great.
November 14, 2008 1:01 PM | flag a problem

Dan A says:
Yea, natural gas is all american and will be forever--exactly why we import 20% of our natural gas and are building massive LNG importing infrastructure. Great.
November 14, 2008 1:08 PM | flag a problem

Dan A says:
I didn't think it was a negative statement at all. I work for a solar installer and I'm always surprised at how few people in my age range (I'm 24) really care about renewable energy. Most of the interest comes from the aging hippie crowd and middle aged professionals. I'm hoping this isn't the case everythwere and I'm guessing from stories I saw in the election that young people are really starting to pay attention. I agree with T. Boone and Anthony, this is a problem for young people and young people need to enter their adult lives with a more sustainable vision than their parents had.
November 14, 2008 1:35 PM | flag a problem

Pat says:
This article reads like Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many peppers did Peter Piper pick?
November 14, 2008 2:32 PM | flag a problem
Anonymous says:
@
Pat,

I think part of the reason you see more intrest in those groups is becuase they are more likely to have the money to fund that kind of investment.
November 14, 2008 2:33 PM | flag a problem
James J. says:
It is not that younger people lack an interest in renewable energy--we simply do not have the capital to invest in it. We are already saddled with the looming debt of the previous generations, expected to pay for retirement, medical care, and now a never-ending succession of socialized corporate bailouts--how exactly does Pickens foresee the next generation paying for a renewable energy infrastructure? His generation largely benefitted from the extraction (and depletion) of fossil fuels--therefore they should be reinvesting the capital gleaned from that. It will be another twenty years before the younger generation have the kind of capital to push renewables, and by then it will be too late.
November 14, 2008 2:46 PM | flag a problem

Brian says:
I honestly think Obama can, and hopefully will, play a very strong role in bringing his strongest supporters, the youth, onto the green side!
November 14, 2008 3:52 PM | flag a problem

Green Products says:
'hulu videos - only streamed to viewers in '...
I hope TreeHugger won't get into the habit of showing videos on hulu - it's called the World Wide Web for good reason and censoring video from the world outside the US isn't very forward thinking!
November 15, 2008 9:21 AM | flag a problem

weee recycling says:
Pickens is clearly a charming guy who could sell snow to eskimos. And he seems to have a plan that would benefit the whole country. I think Obama ought to nominate him for Sec. of Energy or some similar key post - he clearly could get all those cats running in the same direction,
November 15, 2008 11:05 AM | flag a problem

Sidewinder says:
For those of you who don't live in the US you can see the interview here:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=210176&title=T.-Boone-Pickens

Or the full episode here:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=210170