World Business Forum: Conversation with T. Boone Pickens

Definitely the most bizarre presentation of the day: T Boone Pickens’ conversation on energy dependence. While the loose question and answer format allowed Pickens’ personality to shine through, it arguably didn’t do the importance of the purported subject matter the justice it deserved. To wit: one of the most notable lines from the 45 minute session was that Al Gore is good at ordering lunch (apparently he has a penchant for cheeseburgers).

Still, Pickens did toss out a few good lines while he rehashed his personal history. He is deeply committed to natural gas, not because he’s an environmentalist (although he does claim that “I’ve always had a shade of green to me”), but because energy independence has a national security element to it. And, “natural gas is the only natural resource in America that will move and 18-wheeler.” So why not use it?

In other insights, he revealed that he’s spent $62 million and hundreds of hours so far on his Pickens plan to date, but that he’s nowhere near done with it yet. That won’t happen until he sees change. “I’m going to get an energy plan for America,” he said near the end of the session, in response to a question about what he sees in his future.

Other choice quotes/insights from T. Boone Pickens:
“We’re not very smart in how we manage energy in America…and the reason is because we’ve had cheap oil for 40 years.”
If you shop in Paris for a natural gas-powered car, you’ll get between 40 and 45 options. In America, you’ve got one.
“An economist is a guy that did not have the personality to be a CPA”
Wind turbines “won’t do anything for foreign oil”—but he’s investing in them anyway.

--Posted by Phil Stott, Vault Staff Writer