Can you believe it? Forty billionaires have agreed to eventually donate half their wealth or more to unspecified causes.

The list includes David Rockefeller, Ron Perelman, George Lucas, and Ted Turner. (Full disclosure: IAC’s Barry Diller, who owns The Daily Beast, is also on the list.) Here are some more:

• Michael Bloomberg
• Barron Hilton
• Larry Ellison
• T. Boone Pickens
• Pete Peterson
• Diane von Furstenberg
• Sandy Weill
• David Rubenstein
• Eli Broad
• John Morgridge

Those are all the names I could find in the Guardian article. Bill Gates and his wife are to be congratulated on their success in getting such a list compiled.

As an aside I don’t notice any Nevada billionaires on the list nor anyone in Pahrump or Nye County.

[Sources: Daily Beast; Guardian]

Photo: A view of the oil slick from space by NASA on May 24, 2010.

The Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill is the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. It is an oil gusher from the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico that started April 20, 2010 about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast in the Macondo Prospect oil field.

The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others. Ninety-eight workers survived.

The gusher originates 5,000 feet below the ocean surface. British Petroleum estimates over 5,000 barrels to 100,000 barrels of crude oil is being infused into the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally an unknown amount of natural gas is in the mixture.

The oil slick covers 2,500 square miles. Immense underwater plumes of oil, not visible, lie below the water’s surface.

From 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil continue to flow into the gulf per day. As of May 27 it is estimated between 440,000 and 700,000 barrels as of that date have poured into the gulf.

It is predicted the oil will be picked up by the Gulf Stream and carried around Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States.

How long will the oil spill last?

Nobody knows. Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia has said it could take the ecosystem years, possibly decades, to recover from the infusion of oil and gas. CNN reports that BP is not expected to contain the spill until August, if then.

The fishing industry along the gulf has been closed down. Losses from tourism have been estimated at $3 billion. Five corporations connected to the spill have lost $21 billion in market capitalization since the explosion.

BP argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last September by Minerals Management Service saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary; that the voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Hurricanes

The hurricane season officially started June 2 causing the worry that “a hurricane might turn the millions of gallons of floating crude into a crashing back surf,” according to the Associated Press. It is feared that the combination of damaging winds and large waves will push the oil deeper into the Louisiana estuaries and wetlands leaving miles of debris-littered coastline. The furthering damage to the coast line will weaken as future tropical storms and hurricanes arrive in the years ahead.

Regulate, Baby, Regulate

Over the years the federal government has been deregulating corporate industry. You’ve heard the arguments about big government’s intrusion into private enterprise.

BP argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last September by Minerals Management Service saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary; that the voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Around 80 “oil spills” have occurred across the globe since 1937, according to Wikipedia. The most recent occurred in the Singapore Strait resulting from a collision of two marine vessels.

We Must Get Off Oil

T. Boone Pickens says the United States today imports 65% of the oil we use. That is up from 24% in 1970. “Every day 85 million barrels of oil are produced around the world. And 21 million of those are used here in the United States.” That’s 25% of the world’s oil demand. Used by just 4% of the world’s population. America imports 12 million barrels a day, and Saudi Arabia only produces 9 million a day.

Pickens adds, “In additional to putting our security in the hands of potentially unfriendly and unstable foreign nations, we spent $475 billion on foreign oil in 2008 alone. That’s money taken out of our economy and sent to foreign nations, and it will continue to drain the life from our economy for as long as we fail to stop the bleeding.”

Jobs and the New Economy

Host: U.S. Senator Harry Reid, UNLV, and Center for American Progress Action Fund

Type: Meetings – Convention

Network: Global

Date: Monday, August 10, 2009

Time: 10:00am – 6:00pm

Location: UNLV – Cox Pavilion

Street: 4505 S. Maryland Parkway (corner of Tropicana Ave. & Swenson Ave.)

City/Town: Las Vegas, NV

View Map

Description

JUST ADDED: Former PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON!

PENDING: Keynote Address by GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

WHAT: High-level industry leaders, scientists, policy experts, and public officials, along with citizens and the media, will gather in Nevada for a day-long summit hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, U.S. Senate Majority Leader HARRY REID (D-NV), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

This year’s summit will bring together the nation’s top minds, including former Vice President AL GORE, Secretary of Energy STEVEN CHU, energy executive T. BOONE PICKENS, White House Council on Environmental Quality Special Advisor VAN JONES, Nevada State AFL-CIO executive DANNY THOMPSON, and many others to chart a course for our nation’s clean energy future.

WHY: 2009 provides a pivotal opportunity for our nation to come together to define a policy agenda that accelerates the deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency, creates good jobs, advances energy independence, and ensures long term economic prosperity for Nevada, the nation, and the world. We hope you will join the conversation.

For more information on the summit and to register online, visit: http://www.cleanenergysummit.org

$25 discounted admission price for students!!!

Want to participate in a different way? Volunteer at the event by applying at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=SS_2fKOgcDwWwNwh6armDwVw_3d_3d

– Today is Energy Independence Day and the One-Year Anniversary of the Pickens Plan.

- The goal of the Pickens Plan is to make us safer here at home and create millions of high paying new jobs by ending our country’s dependence on foreign oil.

- I believe this is critical to the future of our country and future generations.

- The basics of the Plan are for 20% of our nation’s electricity to come from wind power and to divert excess natural gas to the transportation grid. We currently import nearly 70% of our oil from overseas.

- HR 1835 or the ‘NAT GAS Act of 2009’ is in front of Congress right now with over 70 bi-partisan Co-Sponsors in the House. It would provide incentives for natural gas to become a viable transportation fuel alternative to foreign oil.

- The Senate version of HR 1835 is being introduced today and Boone is in Washington for the announcement.

- Call your congressman and senator today to ask for their support of this bill, HR 1835 that will help get us off of foreign oil.

- This bill stands to create a number of new jobs at a time we need it most.

- Boone is dead on with this plan! We do have enough natural gas. In fact the Potential Gas Agency says there’s enough natural gas in the U.S. for every man, woman and child to drive a car for the next 120 years.

- This plan is also the right choice for the environment. Natural gas burns 23% cleaner than gasoline and 60% more than diesel fuel plus it’s ¼ the cost of foreign oil.

- And if you took just one 18 wheeler off the road and replaced with a natural gas rig, it’s the environmental equivalent of taking 325 cars off the road.

- Learn more and sign up at www.pickensplan.com.

That is what the Wall Street Journal says. A whole lot of it has been found in Northern Louisiana.

So what, you say!

The discoveries have spurred energy experts and policy makers to start looking to natural gas in their pursuit of a wide range of goals: easing the impact of energy-price spikes, reducing dependence on foreign oil, lowering "greenhouse gas" emissions and speeding the transition to renewable fuels.

is what the WSJ answers. “A climate-change bill being pushed by President Barack Obama could boost reliance on natural gas. The bill, which could emerge from the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May, is expected to set aggressive targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent man-made greenhouse gas.”

Meeting such goals would require quickly moving away from coal-fired power plants, which account for substantial carbon emissions. President Obama wants the U.S. to rely more on renewable energy such as wind and solar power, but those technologies aren’t ready to shoulder more than a fraction of the nation’s energy burden. Advocates for natural gas argue that the fuel, which is cleaner than coal, would be a logical quick fix. In addition, billionaire energy investor T. Boone Pickens has been touting natural gas as an alternative to gasoline and diesel for cars and trucks.

What? Move away from coal-fired power plants? Nevada has a love affair with coal-fired power plants! Or did, until recently.

T. Boone Pickens tells us:

98 percent of the natural gas used in the U.S. is produced right here in North America. Why is that important? Just ask Europe. This January in the dead of winter, Russia slashed natural gas shipments to the Ukraine and Western Europe and completely cut off the Balkans and Turkey over a contract dispute. How did the European Union respond? By telling the Russians that their actions were "completely unacceptable." Hell of a response. You think OPEC wouldn’t cut off our crude over a major disagreement? Hugo Chavez would do that in a heartbeat.
Remember, establishing a sustainable energy policy that relies on domestic resources such as natural gas is not just an economic issue. First and foremost, it’s a security issue.

Security issue? That should bring everyone to the table.

T. Boone Pickens will be on Real Time with Bill Mahr tonight on HBO. Pickens has a new video out too.

We’re making real progress in Washington.  If you haven’t seen the entry on the Pickens Plan blog about Sen. Harry Reid introducing legislation to get the new 21^st Century grid started, you should go there right after you watch the new ad.
– Boone

The Pickens Plan is organizing a Virtual March on Washington to be held April 1-3, 2009. So what is a "Virtual March"? You can check out more information about it and register HERE

We are going to utilize the size and unique capabilities of the New Energy Army to have an enormous impact on the White House and Congress. The Army will focus its energy during those three days on e-mails, calls and faxes to every Member of Congress.

Between now and then we will be engaging in a series of activities to get ready for the event, including:

Contacting Members of Congress through email and phone calls to encourage support for key aspects of the Pickens Plan.

Recruiting new members of the Army in every Congressional District.
Submitting letters to the editor and op-eds to newspapers around the country.

Holding district meetings and house parties with members of the Army to discuss ways to have an impact.

Participating in webcast events.

We will be communicating with members of the Army via email, Push, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn to build support and enthusiasm for the event. Make sure you are connected to us on any of these platforms where you have a profile!

If you haven’t yet joined your District Group, CLICK HERE to find your group and join.

Be sure to take photos and videos of your activities over the next couple months – we will soon be inviting you to submit items to be featured here on the Virtual March homepage.

Sign up today to participate in the Virtual March and recruit your friends and family to join you!
(If you are interested in visiting your Members of Congress during the virtual march, please contact your Regional and/or District Leader for more information.)

What do you think would happen if the foreign countries, upon who we now depend for oil, were to cut the United State’s supply of their oil? We would disintegrate as a nation. This recession were are in would be a minor blimp in comparison. Las Vegas would become a ghost town, so would Pahrump. The interstate highways would become vacant and return weeded cow paths. Virtually all jobs would disappear.

And it wouldn’t take long for that to happen either.

Last weekend I watched a big name meeting in Washington on C-Span. President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, a half dozen members of Obama’s Cabinet were in attendance. T. Boone Pickens, a number of other prominent private sector people and scientists were there. They were talking about how to build an alternative energy network across the nation.

I’m no fan of meetings but that meeting was no ordinary meeting. Those people around that large table knew what they were talking about. You wouldn’t have to be an energy genius to recognize they were knowledgeable and versed in alternative energy. They were wrestling with the problem of how to implement a national grid to carry the energy to every corner of the United States.

That video you see on this post makes a point. That is that our dependence on foreign oil is a national security issue. It is a serious security issue. It is a simple matter. If foreign countries stopped selling us oil the United States would cease to exist, without firing a shot. All the guns in the world wouldn’t stop it.

So, why don’t you join up in the Pickens Army? I’m in it, so is Carolene Endersby. We’re both part of the Pickens Plan District. Once you join up with the Pickens Army join into your Pickens Plan District. You, too, can help free American from oil control by foreign countries.

While I’m at it about the Pickens Plan I should pass along this invitation to join the Pickens Plan Army.

Join Your District Group

Army!

President Obama’s inauguration has kick started a frenzy of activity in Washington. With debate about the stimulus plan beginning to heat up, this is our chance to convince Congress that ending our dependence on foreign oil is essential for jump starting our economy.

To help you organize Pickens Plan efforts locally, we’ve created District Groups, one for each Congressional District in America. Join your District Group today and connect with other Pickens Plan members who are making an impact in your Congressional District.

Together you will be able to:

- Sign Up New Members

- Place Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor in Local, State or National Newspapers

- Contact Your Members of Congress and ask them to Support the Pickens Plan

Getting Involved Locally is as Easy as 1-2-3-4!!

1. Go to www.pickensplan.com/district-leaderboard.

2. Select your District Group from the list (or enter your zip code to find your group if you aren’t sure which Congressional District you live in.)

3. Click on the "Join Group" link in the upper right corner of the District Group page (you may need to "sign up" and create a Push profile if you don’t have one already).

4. Start organizing local Pickens Plan efforts to help end our dependence on foreign oil and create American jobs.

Have You Joined Your District Group Yet? If Not, Click Here to Join.

Soon, Boone will call upon everyone in the army to do their part. In order for us to have a real impact on energy legislation in Washington, we have to be organized. Join your District Group today and spread the word about the Pickens Plan in your community.

Now, more than ever, we need your help.

-Team Pickens

Nothing happens unless the American people make it happen. So, make it happen. Join up.

Americans are currently enjoying lower gasoline prices as oil hovers below $40 a barrel. But Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens says it would be foolish to think that oil prices will remain low. The outspoken billionaire was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to renew his push for the development of alternative energy sources. In a CNBC interview, he said oil could rise to $75 a barrel if the crisis in the Middle East continues.

Now that George Bush and Dick Cheney are out of the picture perhaps the move to alternative energy sources can move forward more expeditiously in the President Obama administration.

Nye County, Nevada is a prime spot to become a producer of alternative energy.