DALLAS, July 15 (UPI) -- A nationwide switch to natural gas as the principal fuel for heavy road traffic could save the United States tens of billions of dollars and reduce politically volatile dependence on foreign oil, billionaire campaigner T. Boone Pickens said Wednesday.
In a video presentation, the Texas oilman, 81, urged U.S. President Barack Obama to embrace natural gas as the fuel of choice for heavy vehicles.
Pickens' plan says switching the 8 million 18-wheel trucks in operation across the United States to run on natural gas could cut the United States' dependence on foreign oil by half.
Critics of the proposal say the switch will be too expensive and therefore unrealistic. Critics also questioned the wisdom of Pickens stirring up an emotive campaign with Arabic inscription and Middle Eastern music -- a reference to one of the chief sources of oil used by U.S. consumers.
Pickens aides said this was the first in a series of interactive "whiteboard" video presentations, outlining the role natural gas can play in helping to achieve Obama's campaign pledge to cut all imports of oil from the Middle East in 10 years.
"There are eight years left on the president's campaign pledge to eliminate Middle East oil in 10 years, and we want to help him and our nation get there," said Pickens.
"The Pickens plan is the only real plan that can make dramatic progress on that goal using our abundance of natural gas as a transportation fuel. We encourage Congress and all Americans to get behind this plan now -- there is no more time to waste. We have an opportunity and we need to take advantage of it."
Arguing for a switch to gas for the heavy road vehicles, Pickens said, "You'll cut down $100 billion on 8 million vehicles." The money thus saved, $100 billion, would "create one heck of a lot of jobs in the United States."
Additionally, Pickens said, the switch will address security issues linked to the U.S. dependence on imported oil.
"Every president since Richard Nixon has said 'elect me and we'll be energy independent.' Not one of them delivered on it. This president is going to focus on it, and together, all Americans will solve the problem for the country," Pickens said in the presentation.
U.S. imports of oil in June comprised 62 percent of the oil consumed and cost $27.3 billion, Pickens said, citing Energy Information Administration figures.
"America is as close to an energy plan as it's been in 40 years," Pickens said. "We can't let any more time go by as we continue to spend $27.3 billion per month on foreign oil. "We have to act now or risk watching oil rise to $300-$400 a barrel in the next 10 years, with import numbers jumping to 75 percent.
"So instead of spending $365 billion a year on foreign oil, we would be wasting $1 trillion a year. That just won't work. Congress needs to move fast to enact legislation promoting the greater use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. The future of our economy and national security depend on it."
Pickens' campaign has won response from 1.5 million visitors -- which he calls Pickens army -- to his Web site.
