Pickens Plan District Group FL-16

Comment

Comment by Jeff Greene on October 13, 2009 at 4:10pm

Dear Fellow Pickens Plan members:

I have been impressed with your level of response as well as your passion relating to the recent message about environmental groups and their opposition to oil and gas exploration. In fairness to all sides; I believe it is important to add some further perspective on this issue. After checking with House and Senate Sponsors and the focus of future legislation as well as advocacy groups on this issue, I have been told the following considerations are being made right now:

1. Drilling will be banned in the traditional 3 mile state waters around Florida. The New “open area” will be the 3-9 nautical mile area that is traditionally federal waters but Florida and Texas own due to historical reasons.
2. The proposal does NOT allow drilling. It merely lifts the ban and requires the Governor and Cabinet to receive proposals for leases and then permits. There is no requirement to drill and if the Trustees determine drilling is not economically viable or environmentally safe, they would reject the proposals. (and keep the $5M application fee).
3. No permanently equipment visible from shore will be allowed. Temporary rigs may be used between 3 and 9 miles, but cannot be in place for more than 6 months.
4. Many coastal areas of military and environmental concern would be off limits.
5. The state of Florida will receive MINIMALLY 20.5% of all revenue received from the sale of oil and gas – The state is effectively a 20.5% revenue share partner in the agreement – and potentially more depending upon the bids of the participants.
6. Funding received from the proposal will be spent on the following areas: Future and alternative fuel developments (Including specifically infrastructure and end-user grants for CNG Vehicles), environmental restoration and enhancement projects, local governments, education, economic development and promotion for arts and tourism.
7. In order to ensure the best companies and best trained employees are involved; a $5M non refundable application fee would be required as well as a $500 Million bond prior to any drilling activity by each entity engaged in the process. An apprentice type training program will also be required as well as the best materials and pipes to ensure accident free drilling activity. Florida will have the world’s highest standards for drilling if it is allowed here.
8. I have also been told that revenue could become available immediately from application fees, advanced royalty fees and advanced payments. AND that oil and gas revenue would flow in 12-18 months after a permit is issued. So the funding is not a – “years out” issue – it is short term available.

Many of you may wish to oppose this plan, but let me respectfully remind you that the Pickens Plan is about many things, but it is Certainly about using American made fuels (some renewable, some fossil) to power our cars and homes. CNG is a huge part of our plan and massive amounts of natural gas lie in the Gulf’s eastern planning region and Florida waters. To suggest we don’t need to enhance our supply of American fuels seems inconsistent with our mission and that is the basis of support for this proposal. Secondly, the fact that it can be done – and will ONLY Be done with massive environmental protections, huge financial protection measures and with the best trained labor available makes it more appealing. And lastly, yes, the money matters too. Florida is in Deep, Deep financial peril. After cuts of nearly $7B in the past two years, our leaders tell us we will face another $7B in cuts over the next two years. Tax increases in a recession make no sense, so a wealth event like oil and gas exploration may be our only way out as a state. AND, that the legislative leaders want to expand and fund CNG infrastructure as well as deployment of vehicle filling equipment only adds to the allure of this proposal for Pickens Plan supporters.

Please visit www.EnergyFLA.com to join the move in Florida to enhance our supply of American fuels.

I hope you will join me in supporting this effort – and ensuring that the legislature knows the Pickens Plan is behind it – and fully expects CNG to benefit in the years ahead to help eliminate the balance of trade deficit americ now has with its energy needs.

Comment by Leslie G. on August 28, 2009 at 5:13am

Florida CNG Vehicle Tour
Wise Gas and the Florida Clean Cities Coalitions together with Altech Eco and featuring the Foton CNG bus are coming to a town near you. 8 Cities in 9 days. Keep checking for more details.

Comment by amy oconnor on August 24, 2009 at 5:15pm

Thanks Patrick
Great site...I found this there -

ICFI Presidential Transition - Outsourcing Energy Efficiency
A Clean Energy Resource for the 21st Century

http://thehill.com/wppdf/ICFI_OutsourcingEnergyEfficiency.pdf

Comment by Patrick McNamara on August 24, 2009 at 3:56pm

I just discovered this great resource on white papers at The Hill newspaper in DC, on line: http://thehill.com/whitepapers/

"The Hill's White Papers Portal will revolutionize issue research for Congressional and legislative affairs offices throughout the world. This database is the first comprehensive collection for commercial and political position papers, both in print and video, which can be searched by TOPIC or ORGANIZATION to find a complete source of position papers.

For more information on The Hill's White Papers Portal, please call Beth Tray at 202-628-8519."

Comment by amy oconnor on August 19, 2009 at 11:14am

" There you go again. They only want to meet anybody when they can get the media to give them a photo op."

What I meant was, as a representative of D-20 and The Pickens Plan - I want a photo-op with my Rep !!! The Plan recognizes a photo-op as good PR for us !!!


And I agree that they should not go on vacation unless they do their JOBS and right now, this year, they are NOT (and they have not done them for a long time ) this excludes many good Congressmen such as Bob Graham

Comment by Jeff Greene on August 19, 2009 at 11:00am

I received word from Mike that his Dad raised $10M from ANGA recently, also Alcoa donated $1M to the cause. I was shot down on my PAC idea but have been kicking around a Florida Energy Independence PAC idea but don't have the time to do it on my own so if anyone wants to step up to help, I have the forms and I am working on getting all the Florida contacts from Mike. The AT&T news sent a statement to Ford. I talked to my contact at Ford yesterday and now the Econoline van is going to be manufactured CNG ready. Currently BAF has the only EPA certified kit but we are working with one of our partners to have an alternative soon, both dedicated and bi-fuel. We have a signed contract to convert the Crown Victoria and Ranger for a municipality and we should have that done in October/November. As more solutions come available, more demand should result, at least that's what we are betting our time, money and energy on.

Comment by Leslie G. on August 19, 2009 at 10:44am

Good idea, Pat. This is the second letter that I have had published in the TCPALM, they must have some PP people on the editorial staff,lol. The first letter recieved more comments than this one, though they were not all positive.

Jeff Green tried to start a PAC within the PP, you should ask him about this.

Comment by Patrick McNamara on August 19, 2009 at 9:20am

Good letter, Leslie! Congratulations on getting TCPalm to publish it. Now, we should all join in with comments attached to it, to create some buzz on the topic there. I'll add a comment later today.

Nancy, yes, it is about money -- campaign contributions, unfortunately, but that's the real world. But it's also about power -- the ability to represent a wide coalition of voters and interests. So, although we may not give them much money, we can get their attention with enough mail and media. Besides, Boone Pickens has enough money that he can get their attention any time he wants, I suspect. Or, the Pickens Plan could create a Political Action Committee (PAC) to which we could all contribute a little, and have the impact of contributions multiplied.

The natural gas for heavy transportation part of the PP should be relatively non-controversial -- who would oppose substituting American natural gas for oil imports? Probably the chemical industry would not like it, because they use a lot of NG, and more demand means price increases. The NG companies will be for it for the same reason. Refiners might oppose it because it would decrease one of their revenue sources, and potentially create a problem for them by changing the split of a barrel of crude oil -- if demand for the diesel fuel portion of the "cut" decreases, what do you do with that fraction of the barrel of oil? It has to be converted to something else. Another consideration is the cost of government subsidies to encourage changing to NG fueled trucks, and also building the infrastructure to provide fueling stations.

Does the PP have people in Washington working with the big trade associations to get their support, like the American Petroleum Institute (API), the American Gas Association (AGA), the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), et al. The big trade association members all have a stake in a shift to NG for diesel trucks, and they all have many, many lobbyists. The PP must have someone working to get those trade associations to support the Plan.

What answers does the PP have for these economic effects? Do we have economic studies to define the total impacts? It's not as simple as just saying that so many billion cubic feet of natural gas can offset so many barrels of imported oil.

Pat

Comment by Leslie G. on August 19, 2009 at 4:37am

Pat, I saw the scene on the local TV news. I also wanted to mention my Letter to the Editor was published in the Sunday edition of the TCPALM.
Thanks to everyone for posting.

Comment by Nancy Parker on August 19, 2009 at 4:11am

Vacation?????? Representation should be full-time!!! We are citizens full-time. A thoughtful letter should receive a thoughtful reply. I am not talking just about Rooney but many others who just send form letters when I have spent a fortune on stamps. There you go again. They only want to meet anybody when they can get the media to give them a photo op. It should not be about the media, it should be about the country and citizens. The Republican Party only sends out questionairs when it is attached to a political campaign contribution form. The lobbyists get attention, why, can it be because of money?????

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