Pickens Plan District Group SC-03

Comment

Comment by George Wayne Pruett on August 1, 2009 at 12:00pm

Ryan.Look on top of this page,click on Take Action,arrow to Virtual March and fill in a short form.That will get you started.

Comment by Ryan Dohrn on August 1, 2009 at 7:42am

Hello all. I am new to the group. Is there a place to go to find out about e-mail's that need to be sent out to people in SC?

Comment by George Wayne Pruett on July 31, 2009 at 12:24pm

This the response I received from Sen Demint after contacting him on natural gas for transpotation

Dear Mr. Pruett,
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for H.R.1835, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
As you may know, H.R.1835 was introduced by Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma. This bill would extend several existing alternative fuel tax credits and allow for the creation of a new tax credit for the production of natural gas powered vehicles. If passed, this bill would also require that 50 percent of all new vehicles, put in service by the U.S. government by December 31, 2014, be capable of operating on natural gas.
Like you, I believe we must pursue strategies that reduce our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas. You may be pleased to know I have supported legislation in the past that would provide an extension of renewable energy production tax credits in order to incentivize the development of alternative energy sources.
Currently, H.R. 1835 has been referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology for further consideration. Should this bill come before me in the Senate, know that I will give it every consideration.
Rest assured, I will continue to search for solutions to help our nation meet the ever-evolving energy needs of the 21st Century and support legislation encouraging the development of new technologies so we have a diverse energy policy that provides for the needs of today, while planning to meet the challenges of the future.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. Please feel free to contact me again in the future with anything important to you or your family. It is an honor to serve you and the people of South Carolina.
Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
United States Senator

Comment by Logan Berry on July 13, 2009 at 9:55am

Hey Everyone,

I would like to let you all know that I am the new SC state director for the Pickens Plan. I hope that all of you are as excited about eliminating our dependence on on foreign oil as I am! We have a long road ahead of us, but the more support we gain in SC the quicker we will get there! I would like to hear from all of you. There is something that everyone can do, and no matter how big or small the task is, it will bring us one step closer to our goal!

Thank You,
Logan Berry
SC State Director for Pickens Plan
Lnberry@presby.edu
(843)-532-0353

Comment by Ed Matricardi on July 8, 2009 at 6:57pm

Happy Energy Independence Day

Today is the one year anniversary of the release of the Pickens Plan...

Thanks to your support and Boone’s dedication, we have been able to get Congress’ attention on Energy Independence. In fact, the Dallas Morning News wrote a good recap of our first year that you should check out...and use as inspiration to redouble your efforts in the coming months to finally get America off our addiction to foreign oil.


T. Boone Pickens fueling dialogue on clean-energy efforts
Sunday, July 5, 2009
By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News
esouder@dallasnews.com

In July of last year, Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens began a $60 million advertising campaign and speaking tour designed to persuade Americans to stop using foreign oil.

The oilman-turned-environmentalist proposed a seemingly simple plan: Convert cars, especially big fleets operated by companies and municipalities, from gasoline to domestic natural gas. And start generating more electricity from wind.

By the end of this year, Pickens predicts, Congress will finish passing laws to implement his plan. And within two years, oil imports will drop.

"We have gotten everything we went after," he said. "I have people say it didn't go very fast. Go back and compare it to other things. I think we've moved very fast."

But oil import data don't yet show much direct impact from Pickens' campaign, and a key new natural gas law hasn't made it out of legislative committee. He's persuaded some companies and municipalities to buy natural gas-powered fleets, but the numbers remain tiny.

Still, Pickens' $60 million bought remarkable influence. Because of Pickens, the term "foreign oil" entered the presidential campaigns, executive speeches and everyday discussions.

And he brought many of his conservative followers into the discussion about clean energy through his warning about energy security, allowing them to discuss alternative energy without stepping into the thorny debate about whether humans cause climate change.

"When you have a successful investor from Texas, someone from a state that, some people say, doesn't care about clean energy, to have him come out as the champion, caught a lot of people by surprise and brought a lot of attention to the incumbent [energy companies] in Texas being part of the solution," said Paul Dickerson, a former executive with the U.S. Department of Energy and head of Haynes and Boone's clean technology practice.

Pickens would probably also benefit from his plan. Pickens invests in companies that produce natural gas and sell natural gas vehicle fuel, and a company that builds wind farms.

His retort: "If I'd wanted to make money, I would have kept my $60 million."

On a mission

Instead, Pickens said, he felt he was on a mission that only he could accomplish.

"I felt like it was a mission that you had to tell the American people, you now knew something that affected their lives, their future, their children and grandchildren and everybody else, generations to come. And you had properly analyzed it, you knew what the problem was, and you had a solution for the problem," he said.

Pickens has presented his plan to Republicans and Democrats, to top executives and blue collar workers, to President Barack Obama and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, a longtime supporter of more domestic drilling, credits Pickens with persuading House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to support natural gas vehicles.

"Apparently natural gas is not a fossil fuel," Barton said, tongue in cheek. (Of course, natural gas is a fossil fuel.)

The Sierra Club doesn't oppose Pickens, a longtime Republican supporter who decorates his office with Ronald Reagan memorabilia.

"We haven't given out a wholesale endorsement of the plan, but at the same time, we think that natural gas is a good bridge fuel as we transition to a full clean-energy economy," said Josh Dorner, a spokesman for the Sierra Club.

Natural gas burns more cleanly than oil or coal. Used in a vehicle, natural gas emits 70 percent less carbon monoxide, 87 percent less nitrogen oxide and 20 percent less carbon dioxide than gasoline vehicles, according to lobby group NGV America.

Electric cars might be cleaner than natural gas, but only if the power is generated with cleaner technology, such as wind or solar. Most power in Texas comes from natural gas-fired plants.

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson, appointed by Obama, said Pickens "points out some really important policy issues."

For example, Pickens rightly talks about the importance of building transmission lines to carry wind-generated power from rural areas to population centers, she said.

Drop in imports

U.S. oil imports dropped 14 percent in June from the year before, according to the government's Energy Information Administration. But that probably is due to the ailing economy rather than a shift to alternative fuels.

The number of natural gas vehicles on U.S. roads has risen in the past two years by only about 8 percent to around 120,000, according to Rich Kolodziej, president of NGV America, a natural gas vehicle lobby group. That's hardly enough vehicles to account for the oil import drop.

However, Kolodziej said, demand for natural gas vehicle fuel rose about 25 percent last year as older models, which could use either natural gas or petroleum fuels, are replaced with new, natural gas-only vehicles.

Natural gas costs less than gasoline or diesel. How much less changes constantly. But the vehicle technology can be costly, and stations to fill up aren't always convenient. With few refueling stations outside of major cities, natural gas vehicles aren't as attractive to regular drivers who expect to use their cars for road trips.

But the nation's supply of natural gas is growing rapidly.

A study released last month from the Potential Gas Committee, associated with the Colorado School of Mines, estimates that the U.S. has 2,074 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, 35 percent more than in 2006. The committee said the amount grew partly because of new technology, like that developed for the Barnett Shale.

Pickens said once all of the planks of his energy policy become law, it will only take a couple of years for oil imports to decline for good.

That's only if the tax incentives are sweet enough to offset the extra costs and, in some cases, the inconvenience of using the technology.

Congress has passed the wind portion of the Pickens Plan, and wind power capacity has already risen 50 percent during the past year. The stimulus bill includes money to upgrade the power grid, and Congress has passed incentives for wind and solar energy. In Texas, new transmission lines to accommodate more wind power will cost electricity consumers around $5 billion.

Still, Pickens is missing incentives for natural gas vehicles themselves.

In April, two representatives from Pickens' home state of Oklahoma, Dan Boren and John Sullivan, introduced legislation to extend and create tax incentives for natural gas vehicles and fuel. The bill hasn't been voted out of House committee.

The bill would extend natural gas fuel, vehicle and infrastructure tax credits for 18 years. The credits are scheduled to expire this year and next. It would also provide incentives for auto manufacturers to produce natural gas vehicles, and require half of all new, federal government vehicles to be capable of operating on natural gas by 2014.

Pickens Army

While Pickens hasn't accomplished everything he wants in the halls of Congress, he has amassed a following of 1.6 million people, known as the Pickens Army, through his Web site. Members write letters to their legislators, encouraging them to adopt the Pickens Plan.

He is also meeting with executives, including those at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., to stump for his favorite fuel.

Last week, AT&T Inc. said it would spend $350 million converting 8,000 of its vehicles to run on natural gas, the largest such fleet in the country. AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson chose to include natural gas in his alternative fuel fleet after an hourlong meeting with Pickens.

Pickens is indirectly connected to the company that will carry out the conversions, BAF Technologies. Pickens sits on the board of natural gas fuel supplier Clean Energy, which loaned BAF money, according to Clean Energy spokesman Bruce Russell. The loan is convertible into a 49 percent stake in BAF.

Comment by Ed Matricardi on July 1, 2009 at 4:39pm

Take Back Our Energy Future

A video reviewing the first year of the Pickens Plan has been completed and is available for you to view. It has snips of Boone talking about what he's done, where he's been, and why it is so important for America.

It also includes scenes of Army members, President Obama, former Vice President Gore and interviews with many of the leaders of the drive to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.

You can be among the first to view the new video by clicking HERE
http://www.pickensplan.com/boonecam/2009/07/01/take-back-our-energy-future/

Comment by Ed Matricardi on June 18, 2009 at 5:27pm

We are fast approaching our one-year anniversary of the release of the Pickens Plan on July 8th and we need to jump-start our efforts!

Thanks to your help and Boone’s dedication, we have been able to build an army of almost 2 million online supporters...and we have put energy independence on the agenda in Congress. That is an amazing accomplishment and you can take great pride in your contribution to the effort.

But we are not done yet...not even close.

As we move into our 2nd year, we need to expand our efforts to include the offline community too...we need to approach a broad-based group of potential state and local allies that will partner with us to urge Congress to act on energy independence...everyone from progressive groups like the Sierra Club/etc to more conservative business-oriented groups like the state/local/regional chambers of commerce.

Every one of you has unique contacts at the local level that we need to spread the word about the Pickens Plan. Please let me know if you have any friends or other contacts at local groups and organizations (such as chambers of commerce, environmental groups, alternative energy associations, local elected officials, etc.) so that we can develop a game plan to recruit them as Pickens Plan supporters and mobilize their members to contact their elected officials.

We have done a great job recruiting and mobilizing online supporters...now we need to expand our outreach to local groups and leaders that have credibility with elected officials in your area. Please give me a buzz to discuss any specific contacts you have in your area...

Thanks again for all your help and I look forward to talking with you about any ideas you have on jump-starting activities in your area.

Ed Matricardi
202-531-4717

Comment by George Wayne Pruett on May 27, 2009 at 5:55pm

A letter I received from Sen Jim Demint...This guy obviously does NOT get it !!!Remember this come election time....

Dear Mr. Pruett,
Thank you for contacting me to express your interest in energy policy and the future of energy in the United States. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.



Like you, I am concerned about our nation's energy future. As our country grows, we must have an energy portfolio that meets the needs of today and anticipates the challenges of the future.



In the short-term, I believe we must take immediate steps to correct the mistakes of the last 30 years that have driven up the price of energy and hurt family budgets. Expanding the use of our domestic resources and increasing our refining capacity are just two of many needed steps to address the current problems of rising energy costs in America. In 1980, we imported 35 percent of the oil we consumed, and in 2007 it was 60 percent. If we had started oil exploration in ANWR 10 years ago, America would not have been in this situation, and it is time to fix this problem.



In the long-term, I believe we need to develop all sources of energy that can meet our needs. Every source has its place in our nation's energy portfolio including wind, solar, and geothermal. But we need sources that are safe, clean, and abundant enough to meet the needs of our economy. Because of these requirements, clean coal, nuclear, oil, and natural gas must play a significant role in confronting the energy challenges we face.



Nuclear energy provides cheap, reliable, and carbon-free electricity. In fact, nuclear energy is one of the only energy sources abundant enough to substantially replace coal. Europeans realized this fact thirty years ago. Today they have twice as many reactors as the United States and have reduced their coal consumption by 40 percent.



Rest assured, I will continue to support legislation that addresses our short-term problems, but ensures we plan for our long-term needs.



Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. Please feel free to contact me again in the future with anything important to you or your family. It is an honor to serve you and the people of South Carolina.





Sincerely,

Jim DeMint
United States Senator

Comment by Ed Matricardi on May 17, 2009 at 7:22pm

Hope all is well and that you had a nice weekend...now we need to jump-start our efforts and make sure Congress acts on Energy Independence soon...otherwise they will go back to business as usual and hope nobody notices.

Thankfully, Boone is determined to keep the heat on Congress and ensure they don’t forget that the American people expect them to get us off our addiction to foreign oil. But we need your help!

We would like to discuss our efforts to identify and recruit local supporters in your area by using the Pickens Plan Petitions and Sign-Up Sheets on the Resources Page. You can circulate them in high-traffic areas – like shopping centers, post offices, community events or sporting events – and have an immediate impact on the debate by identifying local supporters in your area that we can incorporate into the effort.
http://push.pickensplan.com/page/page/show?id=2187034%3APage%3A1095041

After you print off the forms and collect the signatures/contact info, please contact me and I will give you information so you can send them in to Boone.

Thanks again for all your efforts.

Comment by George Wayne Pruett on May 13, 2009 at 7:11pm

An email I received after writhing Congressman Barrett.Looks like he may want to get on board.Pressure works.....


Mr. George W Pruett





Dear Mr. Pruett:

Thank you for contacting me in support of H.R. 1835, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2009. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me on this piece of legislation.

Without a doubt, the United States is faced with the tremendous challenge of addressing the energy needs of our nation, and I am especially concerned about our dependence on foreign sources of oil and the price of fuel across our country. While gasoline prices have dropped since the unbelievably high prices we experienced last summer, it is imperative that Congress continues working toward long term solutions that will not only increase our energy security in the long term but will ensure gas and diesel remains affordable.

Like you, I believe the exploration and production of our domestic natural gas and oil resources is crucial in reducing our dependency on foreign fossil fuels, and Congress should continue to encourage domestic exploration and production of these valuable on and off-shore resources. For this reason, I am proud that on October 1, 2008 the current prohibitions on energy leasing on most of the Outer Continental Shelf and on oil shale leasing on federal lands expired. While this is only a first step in the process of increasing our domestic energy production, I will continue to support legislation that opens up our domestic energy resources and addresses the delays in oil and natural gas production, including those caused by excessive legal challenges by environmental groups. In fact, right now, 3 million acres of currently leased land alone are tied up in the courts, meaning companies are unable to begin exploring that land which they have already leased. For this reason, I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 900, introduced by Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, which will provide for expedited judicial review of legal challenges to oil and natural gas leasing.

Furthermore, I have and will continue to support tax incentives that encourage individuals and companies to invest in alternative fuel vehicles, which use energy sources other than, or in addition, to gasoline. These incentives include credits for the purchase of hybrid, lean-burn passenger, fuel-cell, and compressed natural gas vehicles - all of which reduce our nation's dependency on gasoline. Also, you may be interested to know that any taxpayer who installs a home refueling system can offset $1,000 of the system cost by claiming a federal tax credit for installing new alternative fuel refueling infrastructure.

Rest assured I am currently working with South Carolina energy companies and research institutions bringing the public and private sector together to find real and specific solutions to the energy challenge currently facing our nation. In the meantime, know that I value your input on H.R. 1835 and will certainly keep your thoughts in mind if this legislation is considered on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Thank you again for your email. In the future, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime you have concerns about issues facing our nation.






Sincerely,

J. Gresham Barrett
Member of Congress

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