Pickens Plan

Maintenance/Repairs
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Thought I’d throw in a few random comments about Boone that you may agree/disagree with, become disgusted with, or even get a chuckle out of them.
My son is in charge of an office at OK. State U. and is privy to a tiny bit of inside info. OK. State U. is derisively referred to by many students/employees now as BSU, or Boone State U. since it’s all bought and paid for by T. Boone.

When he made the athletic dept. gift a couple of years ago my son told me at the time that Boone did not like the AD or Hall of Fame basketball coach, Eddie Sutton nor his son Sean who was being groomed to take over. The AD quickly resigned after the gift “so he could spend time with his family”. Boone had a problem with the Suttons though; they’re very popular with fans and alumni so T. Boone was between a rock and a hard place.
Some months go by and mannah from heaven for Pickens. Eddie Sutton, drunk on his hiney, brushed off campus police, got into his vehicle and a few miles later proceeded to crash and take someone else out. This led to a large lawsuit against OSU, Sutton entered rehab, and was quietly phased out.
Sean was the next to go and no problem now. A so-so season and he’s now gone. Boone also does not like Mike Gundy the football coach and a 5-6 season this year will be enough of an excuse to can him.

Boone recently made a large donation to the OSU/BSU educational system (about a 100 million plus). All employees were ordered to attend the ceremony and during speeches by both Boone and the new OSU president (Boone did not like the one they had so he went too), they made repeated statements about “furthering the curriculum into a world class system” and referenced noted physicist Stephen HawkINS a number of times. Neither of them had any idea why many in the audience were chuckling.
By law, the new guy could not be president but the state legislature hurriedly went in and altered the law to grant an exemption and allow the takeover

To further enhance their image as a leading educational institution they announced a few weeks later they were drastically lowering the standards for admissions by dropping the minimum ACT score from 24 to 20. Heck, why not just make it single digits? Or better yet, how about no minimums at all? Dig out the checkbook and you’re in! (Which is the entire purpose - student generation numbers.)

My son told me the other day they’re wanting to demolish the historic Gallger-Iba Arena where basketball is played so that Boone Pickens Stadium can be enlarged on the east end; and they just spent a fortune enlarging and remodeling it. The main multi-lane road by the stadium has been closed for 2 years due to stadium work and Boone wants the road permanently closed. If that happens then traffic is going to be an utter and absolute nightmare.

Boone did not get where he is in life by being a nice guy. He’s ruthless and anything he does is for Boone and Co. Even these large gifts to the college are playing to the tax code by spacing them out over 10 years.
He wants this gift, which he demands be matched by taxpayer money to boot, to fund a 150 professors. As my son was telling me, they have no classes for these professors to teach and absolutely nowhere to even put them.

And if anyone thinks Boone is against oil drilling, he stated in an interview locally a couple of months back that we should be drilling in the Gulf and ANWAR because too much of our money was being sent overseas. It’s a good point though.

The head of the association that represents most electricity generation companies stated that Pickens Plan is quote “self-serving” and is doubtful that it would work at all.

Anyhoo, just a few quick comments to pore over for amusement purposes. :slight_smile:

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Most of the places that these Wind Farms are being proposed are in vary isolated spots far away from people. You may drive by them on a long trip, but in most cases that’s the ONLY time you’ll see them.

23

There are other solutions to this problem.

One I really like is this one.

Basically you have a buoy floating on top of the ocean (or large lake). And it’s attached via a piston to a generator sitting on the Ocean (or lake) floor. How many times have you seen the Ocean completely calm??? I never have…It will ALWAYS be generating power.

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The main problem with wind power is that people get in the NIBY mindset. They love the idea, but when it’s proposed in their own neighborhood, they get their panties in a bunch. It’s no different from oil. People are saying we should drill more - but not in Florida … or California … or ANWR. Part of the problem is the anti-capitalist environmentalists (why no refineries have been built here in the last 20 years), but some of it is pure selfishness on the part of regular people. This whole wind for energy is a silly idea that will never work, and Pickens knows it, but at this point he is more concerned about polishing his legacy than losing his investment. What does he care with what he’s worth.

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Part of the problem is the anti-capitalist environmentalists (why no refineries have been built here in the last 20 years), but some of it is pure selfishness on the part of regular people.

Bull…the reason no new refineries have been built is because the Oil companies don’t want them built. They even blocked some startups from building new ones. With fewer refineries the more profit they make. The oil companies also don’t want to update their existing refineries to meet the new pollution standards for the same reason (PROFIT).

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Part of the problem is the anti-capitalist environmentalists

If you think the oil industry is capitalism…I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you. Oil industry is NOT capitalistic. It’s a closed market with very few players…and the oil company’s want to keep it that way.

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Some very good discussion and viewpoints.My question is are we talking about having tens of millions of private autos running on natural gas? New cars or conversions? will the people accept natural gas cars on a massive scale? Will it have to be something like a limited number of choices for private vehicle propulsion?

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While I must respect TB Pickens, as 15 years my senior, for his past ingenuity and successful entrepreneurship in providing us with energy resources that still support us today, I to find his current ongoing involvement self-serving. At this time in his life, it should be the reverse. He, of course, is allowed to comfortably provide for his and his immediate and future family. Past that, shame on him, for not committing the remainder of his financial resources to developing realistic sustainable energy resources enabling the future of Planet Earth, else his future family will have nowhere to live!

As for his contributions to Oklahoma State University (ISU graduate), I again defer to his financial resources while I am appalled at the amount of control he exercises over these benevolent bequests. EGOMANIAC! The University should demand to administer the dispersal of his bequests with perhaps input from a committee equally representing TBT and OSU interests. He has no business directing the course of any University into the future and no University should succumb to such arrangements. As for the focus on sports, need I say more (Yes ISU has defeated them)?

He has the resources to create a tombstone of monumental proportions upon which he can have inscribed an epitaph, of extraordinary length if so desired. Said tombstone to occupy a place upon the OSU campus, I would bet, if he so desired and willed the funding. It should not be in the form of a program, building or complex . . . just a fitting memorial to his life as a graduate.

We have much bigger challenges to conquer, than one ?silly man?s selfish proposals? to insure our grandchildren have a place to live and strive for their and their children?s future.

EngPlanet

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sp. TBP

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Boone’s monument is going to be OSU or BSU, depending on how you look at it.
His name is being plastered all over the place including in lights 24/7, which is an interesting waste of power.
LOL.

While any financial details are not known to the public, the new President of OSU is a former state legislator and also the President of the Bank of Oklahoma, a very large operation with a regional stock offering.
My opinion, right or wrong, is that BOK, OSU, and Boone’s money may be mingled a bit here.

The part that really grates on me is the taxpayer caveat and the flowery speeches about “enhancing education and making OSU a world leader in the academic field” followed by lowering the admission standards.
While I can’t say for sure why this is being done, my humble opinion is that standards are being lowered so that, and to paraphrase Boone and the OSU administration, “OSU will become a national leader in athletics with facilities second to none”.

One would hope they’re not going back to an earlier era in which it was discovered way after the fact that a well-known college and 11 year professional football player graduated from OSU and was unable to read or even sign his own name.

31

It sounds like they are working towards a university the World Class Football Team footabll team can be proud of! For the co-eds there should be degrees in Baton Twirling and Cheerleading.

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I think I’ll name my electric car Rocinante.

33

This rich oilman like his counterparts in the White house reall do not get it. Here’s what needs to be done to lower our dependence on foreign oil:

  1. Lower the national speed limit back to 55 MPH (thi would not only lower our demand for oil but would also lower highway traffic deaths!).
  2. A $5000/year tax on gas guzzling vehicles (SUV’s, Hummers, large pickups, etc)
  3. Increase CAFE standards to 45 MPG (this is the standard in Europe)
  4. Offer tax incentives to home owners in the Northeast to change their old heating oil furnaces to natural gas.
  5. Mandate Energy Star standards for all appliances sold in the US
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I would agree with most of that. Only a determined government can tax and legislate drivers out of gas guzzling cars. The high gas price today is already having a benficial effect. Toyota is going to build the Prius in the US, in the plant that now produces the giant Tundra truck! GM has already decided to close 4 truck plants.

California and 13 other states, with a combined population of over 50% of the US, have already endorsed fuel effciency standards tougher than the federal ones. Clearly, states and cities are way ahead of the feds here.

The only part I don’t buy is a long term return to the 55 mph speed limit. This will cause enormous traffic jams close to cities on commuter highways, and will be largely disobeyed. Even counries with $8/gallon gas do not have such unnaturally low speed limits. As an emergency measure I could live with it!

Solar power will come down is price very rapidly, and soon heaitng oil will be unaffordable in a poorly insulated house. Retrofitting homes and legislating high efficiency furnaces for gas will save agreat deal. Supplementary heating with solar will further reduce gas use, which the US does not have enough of in the future.

Ground effect heat pumps make sense in many areas of the US. They don’t use gas or oil, just electricity.

Energy Star appliances are all that you can buy now; almost all the old non-Star has been sold. In our house we made that conversion 3 years ago.

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Wind? How about Nuclear. You could build enough nuclear power plants in the middle of Nevada to power the entire country and if one blew up it would only kill a few rattle snakes and some sage brush.

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  1. Lower the national speed limit back to 55 MPH (thi would not only lower our demand for oil but would also lower highway traffic deaths!).

It was 55 when I moved to NE 25 years ago…and people drove just as fast then as they do now.

  1. Offer tax incentives to home owners in the Northeast to change their old heating oil furnaces to natural gas.

I’d switch over tomorrow if I could. The problem is…the closest NG lines near me are about 5 miles away. You have to give an incentive to the Natural Gas company to actually run the lines.

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Agree; nuclear will have to be part of the elctric generation mix, whether we like it or not. France, which has no oil or gas, generates over 75% of its electricity from nuclear; very safely.

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I’ve been running my 1998 Citroen Xsara 1.8 (gasoline) with LPG for three years. There’s virtually no difference in fuel consumption and no power/“feel” difference. LPG is half as cheap as gas (petrol) but the install kit + labor was about $1200 or so at the time. With a 1.8 litre engine and usually two adults in the car we average about 24 MPG in the city and 28 MPG on the highway.

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I think you’re exactly right. At one time they were even graduating 0 (yep, zero) percent of the football team. Bring back the good old days!

Just as a further addendum, one of Boone’s higher appointees in the athletic dept. attended a charity golf tournament at the country club and tipped the waiters 2500 bucks apiece. What a big-hearted, benevolent sort, huh?
The bad part was he turned around the next week and submitted claims to the Univ. for reimbursement. More money for higher education always cures the problem.

Guess I’m just a bit biased about T. Boone based on what I’ve seen so far. :frowning:

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You can probably build enough wind turbines to power the country for LESS then it cost to build all the nuclear power plants. Last plant that went on line cost $8b. How many will it take to run the country??? 2-5 HUNDRED. That’s about $3 trillion. I can’t imagine Solar or Wind to power the country costing anywhere near that much.