Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens says national-security issues trump environmental concerns when it comes to the natural-gas drilling procedure called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Critics, including many in North Texas, contend the method of drilling for gas through formations like the Barnett Shale may cause everything from earthquakes to air and water pollution. Pickens (left, in photo by Jeanne Prejean) says the drilling’s needed to end U.S. dependence on oil produced by “our enemies.”
“Fracking has been done in Oklahoma and Texas since the 1950s, and there’s no history anywhere of any aquifer being damaged …” Pickens said today after being honored for his philanthropy at a luncheon in Dallas. “We’re gonna do it. [All the criticism ] proves that there’s somebody going to a lawyer. It’s ridiculous.”
The veteran oil-and-gas man was back in Texas after addressing a clean-energy conference this week in Las Vegas.
There, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) vowed to introduce a bill later this month incorporating parts of the so-called Pickens Plan for energy independence, including converting heavy trucks to run on compressed natural gas.
During today’s talk at the Each Moment Matters luncheon for the Presbyterian Communities and Services Foundation–he just gave the foundation $18.4 million for a new standalone hospice facility–Pickens urged attendees to visit his Pickens Plan web site and join his energy-independence “army.”
He needs 2 million enrollees–he’s got 1.7 million now–to convince Congress to pass elements of the plan, he said. He also said proponents have about 20 working days–from Sept. 14 to Oct. 14–to ensure the success of Reid’s legislation.
