Update on NAT GAS Act From T. Boone Pickens w/VIDEO

Here is an encouraging e-mail I received from Boone Pickens.

Army:

The momentum to get the NAT GAS Act passed in Congress is growing. H.R. 1380 was introduced a week ago with less than 60 co-sponsors. As of today, that number has jumped to 172 co-sponsors (see full list here).

In an era of hyper-partisanship on Capitol Hill, this bipartisan support shows how important members of Congress believe it is to cut our dependence on OPEC oil. Click below to watch the video from our recent "NGVs Take the Hill" event in Washington, DC which featured several of the H.R. 1380 cosponsors.

Also, there have been two major articles recently that I want to point out to you. On the Forbes Magazine website, Rich Karlgaard wrote about having interviewed me before live audiences in the San Francisco Bay area. He started his report by saying there was "an underlying tension" of me "trying to convince earnest San Francisco Bay Area liberals about the virtues of natural gas. How did Pickens do in front of a liberal, vaguely hostile audience? Surprisingly well."

To read the entire post on Forbes.com, click here.

The New York Times also published an op-ed by highly respected writer, Joe Nocera, about the need to pass the NAT GAS Act, which Nocera wrote, "people in the know call it the Boone Pickens bill."

Summarizing H.R. 1380, Nocera writes:

"The Pickens bill creates tax incentives - $1 billion a year for five years - to encourage manufacturers to begin building heavy-duty trucks that will be powered by natural gas instead of diesel. It also gives some tax incentives to truck-stop owners who install natural gas filling stations to help create the infrastructure."

These are all very good - and very important - developments.

- Boone

P.S. On Tuesday, April 19, Ted Turner and I will discuss American energy policy during a joint luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The event will take place starting at 1:00 pm ET and you will be able to watch it online here: http://press.org/events/npc-luncheon-ted-turner-and-t-boone-pickens