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Check out this video produced by Oklahoma State University about yesterday’s Town Hall meeting.

In case you missed it, click here to watch a replay of yesterday’s T. Boone Pickens Town Hall at Oklahoma State University.

The Daily O’Collegian, the student newspaper at Oklahoma State University, has posted video clips from Boone’s press conference after yesterday’s Town Hall meeting, along with other reports from the event.  Click here to visit their website.

More than 4,300 people showed up to hear T. Boone Pickens explain the Pickens Plan to his alma mater at Oklahoma State University.

According to the Daily O’Collegian - the OSU daily campus newspaper - “In Pickens’ fifteenth town hall meeting nationwide, OSU had the largest turnout with a crowd of 4,300 people.”

In the article by reporters Gabby Hutchings and Valerie Pritchard Boone laid out the principles which have driven the Pickens Plan Army for the past 18 months.

“Today we’re importing 67 percent of our oil,” Pickens said. “If we don’t do anything in 10 years, we’ll be importing 75 percent and paying $300 a barrel for oil. We won’t have health care or education because there won’t be anything to go to those. This has nothing to do with politics; it’s about us. It’s our problem, and we’ve got to solve it.”

Boone talked about the need to expand the nation’s wind power capability. The reporters wrote:

Oklahoma is working to use wind as a viable source of energy for the state and hopes to expand to eventually service the whole country. Oklahoma has a team of researchers working on the Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative to set up wind farms statewide.

Boone called on OSU to get going with energy efficiency and alternative energy projects which are already on the drawing boards.

Ever Oklahoma State’s biggest booster, Boone said,

“There’s not going to be anyone who’s going to get ahead of OSU. We’ll be in the game, I can promise you that.”

To read the entire article about Boone at OSU (and the related articles) click HERE.

– The Pickens Team

Looking for leadership? Then look to Iowa, which has moved ahead of larger, traditional wind power states such as California and Washington to become the country’s second-largest wind power producer. Just last year, the state added an impressive 1,600 megawatts of wind capacity, an amount that pushed it past longtime leader California and makes it second only to Texas.

What’s even more amazing is that Iowa’s focus on developing domestic sources of alternative energy is nothing new. According to The Wall Street Journal, the state “began promoting renewable-energy sources as early as 1978, when, in response to the oil shock, it passed a property-tax exemption for wind, solar and other types of generators whose electricity was used on site. Then, in 1983, the state adopted the first renewable-energy mandate in the U.S., requiring that its investor-owned utilities draw power from 105 megawatts of renewable generation by 1990.”

This pro-active attitude by Iowans is now paying big dividends and has the determined support of governing bodies of all sizes and responsibilities. In fact, one of the primary reasons for the recent surge in the state’s wind energy production capacity has been the important role local and state governments have played in facilitating this growth. A combination of tax breaks, fewer zoning regulations, and lack of bureaucratic red tape make the Corn State fertile ground for alternative energy investments, a point that Journal reporter Yuliya Chernova emphasizes:

“… as more states and the federal government seek to encourage more production of renewable energy, Iowa may point the way.”

Property- and sales-tax exemptions for wind equipment make projects in Iowa also make the state more attractive economically. Yet according to a study completed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, each 1,000 megawatts of wind generation installed in Iowa has resulted in $6 million in property taxes for counties.

How serious is Iowa about ending America’s dependence on foreign oil?

What other state in the Union has its own Office of Energy Independence?

Man with a Plan – The Daily O’Collegian – 10/29/09

T. Boone Pickens Bringing His Town Hall Meeting To Stillwater – KOTV – 10/28/09

Natural Gas Shut Out of Debate – The Oklahoman – 10/29/09

Tiberi was Right to Support Natural Gas Act of 2009 – Newark Advocate – 10/29/09

Pickens to Speak at OSU – KSBI – 10/27/09

Natural Gas Producers Continue Push for Incentives in Climate Bill – Dallas Morning News Blog – 10/28/09

“The move from $33 to $68 a barrel — during a time of surplus — offers just a whiff of what will happen when supply tightens again. If the recession passes and scarcity sets in, the return of energy angst will make for giddy prices in the oil market.” – Edward Silver, energy analyst and former Los Angeles Times writer.

Army:

Today I return to my alma mater, Oklahoma State University, for my first town hall meeting on campus since launching the Pickens Plan almost a year and a half ago.

This event means a lot to me – it’s in my homestate, it’s at the university where I studied geology and began my career nearly 50 years ago, the students and leadership of OSU have done amazing work this week to get people excited about the event, and this should be one of the biggest crowds at a Pickens Plan town hall to date.

Oh and the Oklahoma State vs Texas football game is this weekend, so I guess you could say it’s a bit of a pep rally too!

But the only thing that would make this town hall even better is if you’re there.  So in partnership with The Oklahoman, we’ll be webcasting the event starting at 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT this afternoon.

Click here to visit the page on PickensPlan.com where you’ll be able to watch the event and interact with the students and other members of the Army. My team is telling me there will be some contests and prizes for the online audience, too.

It’s going to be a fun afternoon and I hope you can join us.

-Boone

Army:

What a couple of weeks it’s been and I have lots to report and something very important to ask.

There’s a new Natural Gas Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives which is headed by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK).  The more than 40 bi-partisan members of the caucus held a major hearing on Capitol Hill.  The Natural Gas Caucus talked about how the development of America’s natural gas resources will help set America on a path to energy independence and create millions of new jobs.  It was a great event and an important message to get out there.

But here’s the really important part.

We’ve got just under 100 cosponsors of the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1835) in the House—and that’s great—but I think we can educate more Members of Congress, build on that support and do a lot more.

Click here to email your Member of Congress and ask them to become a cosponsor of the NAT GAS Act.

I think we can get at least another 20+ cosponsors in the coming weeks so I’m calling on every member of the Army to reach out to their Member of Congress right now so that we can get to at least 120 sponsors by November 20th.  I’m calling it 120 by 11-20.

I’m going to be working the phones and I need you to as well.  Army, we can get this done and show Congress that it’s time to end our dependence on foreign oil.

Click here to email your Member of Congress and ask them to become a cosponsor of the NAT GAS Act.

Stay tuned because we’re going to post regular updates about our progress and highlight those members who are working to get us off foreign oil.

Let’s keep the pressure on!

– Boone

P.S.  We recently ran an ad in the news publications which cover Capitol Hill. Click here to view the short video we did about this really unique ad.  It’s getting people’s attention.

For almost a year, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert has been advocating that his city go with domestic natural gas as the fuel of choice to power Dallas’s mass transit system. According to the mayor, choosing natural gas would be an outstanding way for the city to brand itself as environmentally friendly and forward-looking. He also recognized that such a decision would have America’s best interests at heart by helping the country to end its addiction to foreign oil.

On Tuesday, Mayor Leppert got his wish. The board of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system voted to solicit bids for 600 new natural gas-powered buses, a fleet that will be at the heart of the city’s next generation of public transportation. No bids will be solicited from diesel manufacturers.

Although the cost of new natural gas-powered fleet was estimated to be more than a similar one running on diesel, the savings from using domestically produced natural gas more than offset the higher cost.

According to the Dallas Morning News, “the vote came two weeks after staff members reversed course from last December, and recommended buying the natural gas buses. They cited falling natural gas prices as the reason they no longer think diesel buses are the best buy, despite more than $100 million in construction funds that will have to be borrowed upfront to pay for the conversion to a natural-gas fleet.”

Read the complete story HERE.

“In a time when fiscal resources are strained and the country is seeking energy security, natural gas vehicles are the right fit.  We look forward to watching them become a mainstay of society here in the United States.”  David Parker, president and CEO of AGA.

Students in the School of Journalism at Oklahoma State University have been doing a FANTASTIC job this week of raising awareness about tomorrow’s Town Hall meeting with T. Boone Pickens.  Click here to read the press release about their efforts.  And check out the following video they put together to promote the event, which includes a few faces familiar to OSU students, alumni and fans!

Mike Johnston, Pennsylvania State Director

-Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m Mike Johnston, a State Director for the Pickens Plan in Pennsylvania. I started my career writing op-ed pieces for several newspapers in the mid 1990s, most commonly writing about the environment, alternative energy and the arts. In the early part of the new century, I had a climate change/alt energy blog which saw a half million hits. At that time, I was asked to be an energy advisor to the Gephardt for President campaign and more recently, I’ve been writing on blogcritics.org and have been called one of T. Boone Pickens’ favorite bloggers on the Pickens Plan website.

-Why are you a part of the Pickens Plan?

I have been interested in alternative energy and the green economy for a long time and I see working with the Pickens Plan as a way that I can have a large impact in this effort.

-Tell us about things you’ve done to promote the Pickens Plan.

I’ve written blogs about the Plan and alternative energy in general, contributed ideas and perspectives on key elements of the Plan, served as a State Director for the Plan in Pennsylvania, and have attended events as a Plan Ambassador.

-Share one idea for what you’d like to accomplish through your work with the Pickens Plan in the next 3 months.

I would like to keep public awareness and support for a green energy economy alive and growing.

We are introducing a new series on the Daily Pickens Blog featuring New Energy Army members and how they are making a difference by being involved in the Pickens Plan. We hope you enjoy this new feature and who knows, maybe we’ll see you here soon! Click here to join your State and District Groups and get involved.