 |
T. Boone Pickens Caught in Two Lies in One Short Interview |
 |
Appearing Monday on Race for the White House, T. Boone Pickens repeated the lie that Obama doesn’t have an energy plan. He also made the hilarious claim that he is “the only guy on the street” with an energy plan. I don’t know what he means by only guy on the street, but it is a baseless lie either way.
Here is the relevant section of the interview:
GREGORY: But who do you have most confidence in, do you think, to execute a strategy that gets us to where you think we ought to go on the environment?PICKENS: Well, Senator McCain and Obama, you know, they are not energy people. When you talk to Governor Palin, there’s no question she has had more experience with energy than either one of the senators have had. I wouldn’t grade Senator Obama or McCain. They neither one have a plan. I’m actually-I’m the actually the only guy on the street with a plan.
I’ll take these two lies individually.
Lie #1: “They neither one have a plan.”
Translation: Neither Obama or McCain has an energy plan.
Fact: Obama has an excellent energy plan. You can download it here.
I stand by my initial assessment:
The plan includes several promising and innovative policy proposals, a few questionable ideas and a perfect opportunity for Senator McCain to make an ass of himself.
David Sasson reminds us that “nobody until now has floated a plan for the rescue of Detroit that makes so much sense.â€
Joseph Romm at Climate Progress calls it “easily the best energy plan ever put forward by a nominee of either party.â€
Lie #2: “I’m actually-I’m the actually the only guy on the street with a plan.”
Translation: I’m the only person with an energy plan.
Fact: Dozens of candidates, individuals and organizations have energy plans. Many of them are similar to the Pickens Plan.
As A. Siegel points out there are plenty of other energy plans. Here are a few off the top of my head:
It is unclear why Boone Pickens continues to say something that is so obviously untrue.
Here is the video:
I think Obama did well in the last debate and I plan on voting for him in this election, but the energy policy that is linked in this article is fairly vaugue. There are many good points that are made in his policy but few specifics and too much of a focus on coal. Coal is great but far from renewable and not as “clean” as is being implied. I have gone through Pickens drafts and think he has a better approach. Not better by a huge margin, but I think it would be fair to consider him more of an expert on energy than the McCain or Obama camp. The fact that he isn’t trying to get elected adds credibility to his argument.
Well, according to the wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickens_Plan) he has already met with both candidates to brief them. It’s possible that Obamas energy team has already picked apart his plan and taken umbrage with the water rights issues that have been raised. Pickens may have suspended his water pipeline plans specifically because of criticisms he has received from the campaigns.
Yes, if by “the only guy on the street with a plan” he means someone who is masquerading an “energy” plan as a coup of all the water rights going to Dallas, then I think he is telling the truth. Read for yourself: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/TimothyCarney/T_Boone_Picken s_wants_your_water.html
That T. Boone Pickens is lying about Senator Obama and his energy plan comes as no surprise. This the guy that financed the Swift Boat campaign in 2004, then offered a million dollars in 2007 to anyone who could disprove the Swift Boat claims, then reneged on that offer - at least twice. Whatever one may think of his energy plan, his current pretense at non-partisanship is ludicrous.
We all listened to the candidates in the recent debates. From my perspective, while I heard mention by the candidates of alternatives, (wind, solar, nuclear) and certainly they expressed concerns about our dependance on foreign oil; what I did not hear was a definative plan. My “take” on the debates is that the issue of our dependence on Foreign Oil, and the “Energy issue” as a whole; was a secondary issue. That’s a hude dissapointment to those of us who view it as the #1 issue.
T. Boones plan is specific, encompassing, intelligent, and it will work. He’s for ALL of the energy alternatives, but he further understands which technologies are available NOW to get us off Foreign Oil, and which technologies simply are not ready yet and need “to cook a while longer”.