Pickens Plan District Group AZ-08

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Comment by Robert J. Butler on November 21, 2009 at 4:00pm

Steve -- Thanks for the pointed reply and the strategic viewpoint. I think GG has a lot of clout for a 2 term Rep. and she will lead the charge for issues when you make a good case, which you did in your reply.
I believe we owe our fellow citizens an effective approach to Congress and that Big Oil is a tough lobby to win over. Your points are well taken in Pickens leading the charge for truck fleet conversion. RJB

Comment by Steven E. Sexton on November 21, 2009 at 11:02am

The government picks economic winners based on politics and it is influenced by advocates with money. Apparently US Citizens and what is good for America takes a back seat. This is partly because government controls the conversation. When the free market produces a winner it is because of hard fought business planning and economic justification, but this is not the path of government. To get the Pickens Plan and other energy topics on track, the conversation should be about technical and economic feasibility and ROI marketing, not opinion, influence and politics. I place ROI marketing in front of my energy products as a matter of respect to my potential customers and so should the government and the energy industry in general. It is my humble opinion that if the Pickens Plan Army wants to win, the Army needs to take control of the conversation and make a better leading case for its interests. A new and stronger Pickens business plan is needed.

Comment by Steven E. Sexton on November 21, 2009 at 10:28am

Memorandum
Pickens Plan
District Group AZ-08

Subject:
Gabrielle Giffords Position on Natural Gas Act of 2009 (H.R. 1835)
Comments to Congresswoman Giffords Letter to Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Butler

All -

Giffords says she in not opposed to using natural gas as a transportation fuel, just not on a "widespread" basis. This seems to be the position of Congressmen in general, I believe that Natural Gas for vehicle advocates can agree that a Diesel to natural gas fuel transition should happen on a large scale. Diesel has been a cheap fuel in the past, justifying its use, but environmental health concerns stemming from toxic emissions of dioxins and furans (to name a few) and the health "savings potential" should be incentive enough for Giffords to support the Nat Gas Act of 2009. A widespread transition of 50% of all vehicles not what the Natural Gas Act of 2009 is all about, but vehicle fuel diversification for large trucks is a very good strategy.
H.R. 1835 Summary
• Title I: Promote the purchase and use of NGVs with an Emphasis on Heavy Duty Vehicles and Fleet Vehicles
• Title II: Promote Production of NGVs by Original Equipment Manufacturers
• Title III. To Incentivize the Installation of Natural Gas Fuel Pumps and Service Stations and Depots and Domestic LNG Production Facilities for Small Energy Producers
• Title IV: Natural Gas Vehicles (Not later than 2014, at least 50% of all new vehicles purchased by the US Government shall be capable of operating on natural gas.)

Introduction of the bill is the first step in the legislative process. Bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate and revise them before they go on to general debate. It is my opinion that the Pickens Army should encourage modification of the Bill to bring emphasis to large vehicles and to remove small cars and trucks from this legislation. Small positive steps now will provide outcomes that can be later analyzed for better future fuel use transition strategies. To win ground in this battle, I believe we should urge Congress to modify the proposed Bill so we can get our Representatives onboard with the movement. Dislodging big oil from gasoline sales in one Bill is likely not going to happen. If the Pickens Plan Army can agree to institute a strategic compromise on this vital legislation, perhaps we could ask Giffords and other Representatives to work to modify the Bill and we can get this done sooner for America.

In my humble opinion,

Steve Sexton

Comment by Dave Clement on November 20, 2009 at 2:10pm

Recycle Your Turkey Grease!
Day after Thanksgiving 9AM-1PM

East-O’Rielly Chevrolet
6160 E. Broadway Blvd.
One block west of Wilmot Road

Northwest-Pima County Industrial Wastewater Control
5025 W. Ina Road
¼ mile west of I-10

South-City of Tucson, Water Plant #2
1102 W. Irvington Road
West of I-19 on Irvington, turn north at first light into Water Plant #2,
(Across from the street from Mc Donald’s)

Comment by shela seals on November 9, 2009 at 10:24am

Would be good for the sponsor to get some publicity into the Cochise County newspapers about the CNG Road Show in Benson!

Comment by Dave Clement on November 9, 2009 at 9:46am

The National CNG Road Show comes to Benson this Thursday!
Nov 12th, 1-5:00 pm at Cochise Community College in Benson, Arizona
Speakers, Vehicles and Displays on Natural Gas Vehicles and Idle Reduction Technologies
.Click here for more Road Show Info
(The Tucson event has been postponed)

Comment by Robert J. Butler on November 3, 2009 at 3:41pm

Steve -- Here it is verbatim. RJB
November 2, 2009

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Butler,

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 1835, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act of 2009. I appreciate your interest in this critical energy policy topic.



As you probably know, this bill would support natural gas transportation initiatives. The key provisions of the bill include:

o Incentives to purchase and use natural gas vehicles (NGVs) with an emphasis on heavy duty vehicles and fleet vehicles

o Incentives for manufacturers to produce NGVs

o Incentives to install natural gas fuel pumps and service stations and depots

o A requirement that by 2014 at least 50 percent of all new vehicles purchased by the US government shall be capable of operating on natural gas



I believe there is an important role for natural gas as a "bridge" fuel to a low-carbon future. Compared with coal or oil, natural gas produces significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants to generate a given amount of energy. Substituting natural gas for other fossil fuels offers an excellent way to reduce emissions and pollution rapidly.



In addition, recent advances in drilling technology, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, have opened up significant new natural gas supplies from shale formations in the United States. Until recently, it was assumed that increased use of natural gas would require a significant increase in imports. That would not have made sense from the perspective of trying to reduce our dependence on foreign energy. It now appears, however, that there are ample domestic supplies. There are some legitimate concerns about the environmental impacts of these new drilling techniques, but it appears those issues can be responsibly managed. For these reasons, I believe our national policy should create incentives to use of domestic natural gas.



However, while I do not oppose using natural gas as a transportation fuel, I do not believe we should create incentives for widespread use of natural gas for that purpose. Instead, I believe natural gas should be used to generate as much electricity as possible, ideally as a substitute for other fossil fuels. This is a simple issue of getting the most bang for our buck and stretching the resource as far as possible. The average natural gas-powered electrical plant in the United States is approximately 39 percent efficient meaning that 39 percent of the energy contained in the fuel is converted into electricity. The newest natural gas power plants are even more efficient than that, at approximately 60 percent. This is more efficient than the use of natural gas in an internal combustion engine, which is about 15-20 percent. Internal combustion engines are so inefficient that it would be far better better to transition to electric vehicles and run them on electricity from natural gas than to run vehicles on natural gas directly. Considering that numerous automobile manufacturers are planning to introduce all or partial-electric powered vehicles within the next year or two, I believe that is a better strategy.



In addition, natural gas provides an ideal complement to solar and wind power. Natural gas can effectively "firm" the output of these renewables, filling in the gaps in production when the wind drops off or a cloud passes over the sun. The combination of natural gas and renewables can be an effective source of baseload power.



Some people point out that you can't run an 18-wheeler on batteries, which is true, at least for now. However, we can't forget the problems we are trying to solve. We want to reduce energy imports and reduce environmental impact. Using domestic natural gas for electricity and transitioning to electric transportation would achieve those goals. We can continue to run heavy vehicles on diesel for the time being, giving efficiency, biofuels, and battery technologies more time to improve. This would avoid the expense of investing in a natural gas transportation infrastructure that will ultimately be obsolete anyway when we transition away from fossil fuels completely, as we must.



H.R. 1835 was introduced on April 1, 2009 and has been referred to House Ways and Means Committee, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the Science and Technology Committee. Should this bill come to the House floor for a vote, I will keep your thoughts in mind.



Solving our energy problems is essential for the sake of our economy, our environment, and our national security. I sincerely applaud the authors and cosponsors of the NAT GAS Act for all they are doing to raise awareness of these critical energy issues and of the potential for natural gas to contribute solutions. However, I do not agree that natural gas should be used as a widespread transportation fuel - it is too valuable and more effective in other applications. Instead of burning natural gas in our vehicles, we should use it where it will have the greatest impact?"generating electricity?"as we work to electrify transportation, improve efficiency, and develop effective biofuels as quickly as possible.



I always appreciate hearing from constituents, like you, who are informed and interested in the important issues affecting Arizona and the nation. My job as your representative is to help you connect with federal agencies, access services and get your questions answered thoroughly. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if you require assistance.





Sincerely Yours,



Gabrielle Giffords
Member of Congress

P.S. To receive regular e-mail updates on my work as your U.S. Representative, visit
www.giffords.house.gov to opt-in to my e-newsletter. It allows me to keep Southern
Arizonans, like you, informed about the most recent activities in the House of Representatives
and upcoming public forums I am sponsoring in the district.

Comment by Steven E. Sexton on November 3, 2009 at 10:14am

Robert - Please send me Rep. Giffords response with her data and rationale on NG vehicle efficiency. I would like to understand her position in this matter.

Steve Sexton - sesexton@vocgen.com

Comment by Robert J. Butler on November 3, 2009 at 2:08am

Dani -- Last August we asked you to respond to Rep. Giffords, D8-AZ who has declined to support NGA because she believes NG has low efficiency numbers as a transportation fuel (>20%)
I have written to her twice asking for her support and twice she has responded with the same data. Why have you not refuted her position? She is a great representative for our district and is quite reasonable on facts. We need your help on this. Let's talk. RJB

Comment by Dani Lanz on November 2, 2009 at 2:08pm

Let’s get to 120 by 11/20/09

Army:

What a couple of weeks it’s been and I have lots to report and something very important to ask.

There’s a new Natural Gas Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives which is headed by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK). The more than 40 bi-partisan members of the caucus held a major hearing on Capitol Hill. The Natural Gas Caucus talked about how the development of America’s natural gas resources will help set America on a path to energy independence and create millions of new jobs. It was a great event and an important message to get out there.

But here’s the really important part.

We’ve got just under 100 cosponsors of the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1835) in the House—and that’s great—but I think we can educate more Members of Congress, build on that support and do a lot more.

Click here to email your Member of Congress and ask them to become a cosponsor of the NAT GAS Act.

I think we can get at least another 20+ cosponsors in the coming weeks so I’m calling on every member of the Army to reach out to their Member of Congress right now so that we can get to at least 120 sponsors by November 20th. I’m calling it 120 by 11-20.

I’m going to be working the phones and I need you to as well. Army, we can get this done and show Congress that it’s time to end our dependence on foreign oil.

Click here to email your Member of Congress and ask them to become a cosponsor of the NAT GAS Act.

Stay tuned because we’re going to post regular updates about our progress and highlight those members who are working to get us off foreign oil.

Let’s keep the pressure on!

– Boone

P.S. We recently ran an ad in the news publications which cover Capitol Hill. Click here to view the short video we did about this really unique ad. It’s getting people’s attention.

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