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Nov 20, 2008 5:11 pm US/Central
T. Boone Praises "T", Pushes DART To Buy More CNG
Reporting
Jack Fink
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The debate over new Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) buses is heating up. Tonight legendary oilman and billionaire T. Boone Pickens is weighing on a controversial decision to buy compressed natural gas (CNG) or clean diesel vehicles.
CBS 11 News reporter Jack Fink was the only local television reporter to talk to the oilman.
A central element of The Pickens Plan, which is designed to reduce U.S. foreign oil dependency by more than 30-percent, is the use of domestic natural gas in heavy-duty U.S. fleets.
Pickens wants DART to go the same route as the Fort Worth Transportation Authority or The T. He wants DART to buy CNG buses instead of clean diesel and made his point during a trip from Dallas to Fort Worth on one of the T's CNG powered buses.
Thursday afternoon Pickens boarded the T bus to prove the point that the fuel produced here in North Texas helps reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. "I know it works," Pickens proclaimed. "It's our answer to the problem."
The T is celebrating 25 years of moving North Texans around. The oilman says for nearly 20 years, CNG buses have worked well for The T and would do the same for DART.
Pickens' company, Clean Energy, supplies natural gas for The T and is vying to do the same at DART. Pickens further pushed his suggestion by saying, "It's a domestic fuel. It's a cheaper fuel. Why would you use foreign oil in place of something like that?" But the DART staff favors clean diesel and claim that once it's certified by the government, it would be just as clean as a CNG bus.
DART also claims that CNG buses would cost $200 million more to buy and operate over a 15-year period.
'I don't believe their numbers," Pickens said. "They've made the numbers look better for the case they're trying to sell."
For his part, DART Executive Director Gary Thomas says, "Anytime someone tests your statements, your questions, your data, it's a good thing. It improves the process because it helps makes you search for all the data possible."
One of DART's founders, Walt Humann, was on the bus with Pickens, and he says his analysis shows CNG could actually be a lot cheaper than clean diesel in the long run. Humann believes CNG could be as much as $130 million cheaper than clean diesel fuel, over a 15-year period.
Pickens says he's spoken with Tom Leppert and that the Dallas mayor favors CNG. "Eventually, I think we'll get to the right conclusion and make the right decision."
DART has delayed making a decision about which buses to buy for another 60 days. DART needs 537 buses to replace its aging fleet.
Pickens also spoke about his recent announcement that he's delaying his proposed wind farm in the Texas panhandle. He says the credit crunch is to blame.
"The Pickens Plan" would use wind energy to help fuel electricity plants and use CNG to power buses and large trucks. Pickens said, "Thirty-percent of all oil used goes for movement of goods, which is in trucks." He favors a government mandate for new 18-wheelers to be CNG powered and for the government to provide $50,000 for each vehicle purchased.
Pickens met with Mr. Barack Obama during the '08 presidential campaign; before the then senator won the presidential election, and says the now President-Elect is "a quick study" and "smart". During that meeting on the campaign trail Pickens said he explained to Mr. Obama that trucks can't run on batteries like hybrid cars.
Despite the fact Pickens is the majority stakeholder in Clean Energy, which is the nation's largest supplier of natural gas for transportation purposes, he says he's not in it for the money, but because it's the right thing to do for the country.
Check out Jack Fink's entire unedited interview with T. Boone Pickens in the WEB EXTRA video on this page.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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