Chris Moody
The Daily Caller
4/20/2011
It should come as little surprise that when President Obama announced plans to give away billions of dollars to alternative energy companies, the lobbyists came running toward Washington.
Billionaire entrepreneurs T. Boone Pickens and Ted Turner were just the latest to make the trip. The duo delivered a joint talk in the capital city Tuesday about their alternative energy investments, and both made it clear they were there looking for handouts.
For the past three years, legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens has crossed the country selling a plan to eliminate America’s reliance on foreign energy sources through domestic natural gas production and wind energy.
He just needs $5 billion of your dollars to do it.
“This is all the help I want. I want a billion dollars a year for five years and then kill it,” Pickens said, describing the amount of public money he’ll need through tax credits to get his plan off the ground. “Five billion dollars.”
With President Obama in office, Pickens said he felt more confident than ever that he could finally get it.
At this year’s State of the Union Address in February, the president called for an increase in public funding to companies that invest in “green energy” sources and that was all Pickens needed to hear.
“Just give me the money to get it started,” he said at the Tuesday luncheon. “Give us the direction, Mr. President and we’ll go in that direction because we are patriotic and we’re not stupid.”
More specifically, Pickens is busy lobbying for a bill — HR 1380 — which is currently sitting in committee and if passed would provide the billions he’s requesting. Sponsored by Oklahoma Republican Rep. John Sullivan, the legislation would change the Internal Revenue Code to give tax credits to entrepreneurs like Pickens who invest in the renewable energy business.
The article continues, with video, at The Daily Caller
