T. Boone Pickens: Biggest Deterrent To U.S. Energy Plan Is Koch Industries
Pickens' biggest concern right now centers on what he sees as the Obama administration's lack of an energy policy. He says special interests are blocking real energy reform, and he singles out Koch Industries, a chemical, fertilizer and refining juggernaut run by brothers David and Charles Koch, as the main culprit.
"The biggest deterrent to an energy plan in America is Koch Industries," he says. "They do not want an energy plan for America because they have the cheapest natural gas price they've ever had, and they're in the fertilizer business and they're in the chemical business. So their margins are huge. And they do not want you to have an energy plan, because if you had a plan, then natural gas prices would come up."
The Obama administration may be lacking a cohesive, straightforward approach to America's energy independence, but fossil fuel production has greatly expanded since Obama took office. The president has approved drilling permits in federal lands and waters that were previously off limits to oil and gas companies, much to the chagrin of environmentalists. From 2005 to 2011 the amount of foreign energy sources imported by the U.S. fell by 15%. Obama rejected the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in January, but he has recently expressed support for building the southern portion of the pipeline that would extend from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's very hard to get an energy plan," Pickens laments. "It isn't a failure of the Democrats. It's not a failure of the Republicans. It's a bipartisan failure. Over the years neither party could provide the leadership to have an energy plan."
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/t-boone-pickens-biggest-deterrent-u-energy-plan-125553999.html
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