Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : Pickens Plan: T. Boone Finds Receptive Crowd for Wind-and-Gas Strategy

His presentation opened with some of the Pickens ads, extolling the virutes of wind farms to boost U.S. energy security. As the lights went up, Mr. Pickens stared out at the audience and said in his Oklahoma twang, “I couldn’t believe this 80-year-old man was the only person in America with an energy plan.”
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“We’re in a game where we have no cards,” Mr. Pickens said. “If you’re in a game with no cards, get out of the game.” If the tables were turned–if the U.S. had abundant supplies of dirty oil–Mr. Pickens said he’d prefer burning American oil to using imported natural gas.

1. If Pickens is the only person in America with an energy plan, what has the Department of Energy been doing for the last 32 years?

During the Carter administration, the Department of Energy was established in 1977 for the purpose—we were told—of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Thirty-one years later the budget for DOE is $24.2 billion a year. It has 16,000 employees and some 100,000 contract employees. Are we energy independent yet?

2. When Pickens says we have "no" cards, is he suggesting that America has "no" coal or oil resources?