Meanwhile, Pickens' more-than-$4-billion hedge fund, BP Capital, is invested in a variety of natural gas companies. He also sits on the board of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., North America's largest provider of vehicular natural gas.
"Mr. Pickens is a very intelligent man," said Don Martin, vice president of Enmark Energy, a Texas oil and natural gas company. "People in the oil and natural gas business are rich for a reason. They know where the money is."
But Becker at the Safe Climate Campaign said he didn't begrudge Pickens' turning a buck with the Pickens Plan.
"If he can find a way to make money and help the planet, I don't have a problem with that," Becker said.
However, he said, natural gas may not be an easy substitute for oil. Natural gas prices have been climbing in tandem with oil prices and are up 30% this year. Increased demand by the United States would push global natural gas prices higher, Becker said, thus mitigating any relief consumers might initially feel at the pump.
Moreover, we'd still have to import more than a third of our oil -- assuming everything went according to plan -- and would probably end up importing a greater share of natural gas as well.
Our friends in Russia are the leading natural gas purveyors, accounting for almost 15% of world exports.
"We really need to kick the tires on this and see what works," Becker said.
For his part, Pickens said he'd be spending $58 million on a multimedia campaign designed to raise awareness of the country's energy troubles and his plan for fixing them.
He'll also try to prod the leading presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to pay more attention to the issue.
"Sometimes it takes a crisis to awaken us from our slumber," Pickens said. "But once aroused, the American people can accomplish miracles."
That some may get even richer in the process shouldn't necessarily deter us from trying.
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Consumer Confidential runs Wednesdays and Sundays. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
The Pickens Plan
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens says the U.S. must reduce its dependence on foreign oil. A look at his proposed solution:
Build wind farms from Texas to North Dakota to produce at least 20% of the electricity for the United States.
Divert natural gas now being used to generate electricity for use in motor vehicles, thus cutting U.S. dependence on oil.
Costs
$1 trillion to build wind farms, plus $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.
Unspecified costs relating to converting vehicles and automakers' plants to build cars that run on natural gas.
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Source: www.pickensplan.com
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