Oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens created a stir recently when he suggested that we can’t “drill our way out” of our current energy crisis.

Pickens has suggested using wind energy to generate electrical power and using natural gas for truck transportation.
It’s an interesting proposal, but U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, is skeptical.

First, Kind says, don’t forget that Pickens has secured a lot of natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Putting his plan into effect would be a windfall for him.

Secondly, be careful about how much natural gas we divert from home heating into transportation. Heating costs are expected to increase substantially this winter. What will be the impact on prices if we’re using a lot of natural gas for transportation?

Even though Kind is skeptical about Pickens’ proposals, he argued in a meeting with the Tribune Editorial Board Monday that Pickens is absolutely correct about our inability to drill our way back to oil abundance.

The United States makes up 4 percent of the world’s population, Kind said, but uses 25 percent of the world’s oil. Meanwhile, the oil in the United States represents about 2 percent of the world’s known oil reserves.

And Kind didn’t even talk about how China and other emerging countries are beginning to develop oil addictions just like ours.

Increasing drilling might have a short-term impact on supply, but in the long run, we will need to conserve energy and to develop alternative forms of energy — including electric cars, hydrogen, more uses for natural gas, wind, solar and other forms.

“We ought not mislead the American people,” Kind said. “We need a comprehensive energy plan for the future.”

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