Author: GTD Group (Page 10 of 23)

On July 12^th, and as of that date, I made remarks in an interview for the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch regarding Egypt and America’s Energy.

Egypt is not a major producer or supplier of oil but it is a major “chokepoint” in the Middle East when factoring in potential disruptions.  With that said, there is the concern of supply disruptions due to the location of the country’s pipelines and its oversight of the Suez Canal.  An additional concern is that the unrest could possibly carry over into other countries in the region where is substantial oil production.  Another factor is the recent drawdown on US reserves.

The unknown of oil supply disruptions is a warranted concern for the short term.

History of the region shows that the Suez Canal was closed for several months during the crisis in 1956 and during the blockade which occurred for several years following the war of 1967.

Peace in the Middle East would definitely deter the potential for major oil disruptions.

In the long term, beginning soon with a national energy strategy, we should step up own natural resource development efforts especially in the oil and natural gas shale plays.  The commitment to energy development should lead us to energy security.  Therefore, we would be less concerned over time about oil disruptions in other regions throughout the world.

“In 2011, the US spent $453 billion on oil from OPEC and other foreign countries.  The largest consumers of OPEC oil in the form of gasoline and diesel in this country are the trucks and fleets that move goods.  Running primarily from point to point, or from distribution center to distribution center, these heavy trucks and fleets consume incredible amounts of fuel while operating at low fuel efficiency”, according to Boone Pickens.

As I state in my book, it is so important that America establishes energy independence.    Our national security has long been one of the most important assets we cherish.  Today, nothing in America moves without energy, but the definition of energy security is not confined to fuel for transportation.  It also extends to power generation.  To be independent means not just avoiding foreign oil, but creating a forward-thinking infrastructure that provides for our lifestyle needs.

Energy security is based on an energy plan in which we all conserve and work to determine how we will obtain more energy from our country’s sources.  The energy dependence we suffer from today costs us economically, in the form of high prices and lost jobs.  If we develop a People’s Energy Plan, it will lead us to economic prosperity and energy security.

With an American energy strategy we would not have to be as concerned if there are oil disruptions in other parts of the world.  America Needs America’s Energy!   Together we can create America’s Energy Plan!

Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to learn more, and to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”.

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com

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July 7^th of this year marked the beginning of four years that I have hosted a radio show on the Tulsa airwaves.

My guest on The Weekly Roundtable anniversary show was Diana Furchtgott-Roth, author of a book entitled, “Regulating to Disaster:  How Green Job Policies are Damaging America’s Economy”.

(The Weekly Roundtable radio show airs each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. CST on AM1170 KFAQ, Tulsa, Ok.   The show can also be heard on www.1170kfaq.com live feed and podcasts.  Also, the show can be downloaded on App:  KFAQ for free for both live feed as well as podcasts.)

Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a former chief economist of the US Department of Labor, a MarketWatch columnist, a contributing editor of RealClearMarkets.com and a monthly columnist for Tax Notes.  She served on the staffs of Presidents Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43.

Diana states that it is her opinion that few can define what truly a “green job” is.  She states that the government is not even sure.  She states that the current definition is unfortunately encouraging more Solyndra’s in the future.

She provides examples in her book of the term “green job”.  “The 3.1 million green jobs are a matter of relabeling, not creating new opportunities for Americans to move up the career ladder.

According to Diana, if you sweep a floor in a solar powered facility, drive a hybrid bus, work at a clothing recycling center, work as a garbage man, or work as an oil lobbyist engaged in environmental advocacy, you have a “green job”.

“Because Congress and the administration are mandating and subsidizing more costly green technology, businesses and consumers are reducing some economic activity and investments.  Some investments are going overseas, and some are simply not being made anywhere.  The result is lost jobs.  Businesses are hiring more temporary workers, but not permanent workers.  Consumers are wary of spending because they are afraid of tax hikes and further shrinkage of the values of their homes and their retirement savings.”

She states that currently America should put a hold on more regulations.  “They create a climate of uncertainty, damaging economic growth and employment, and inhibiting employees and investors.”

She believes that the green jobs as presently defined are going to cost Americans especially in utility costs.    Many US leaders want new regulations on energy but she states that there are disadvantages.

On The Weekly Roundtable, I have also had another economist, Dr. Woodrow (Woody) Clark as a guest.  He has some different views than Diana expresses in her book.  His interviews along with others can be listened to on the podcasts earlier mentioned and also, on my company website www.thegtdgroup.com.

Diana believes that fossil fuels used in an environmentally friendly way can power the economy.    She states that “we can move away from expensive, inefficient, green jobs policies when we find they are counter to economic growth and are a wasteful way of meeting our objectives.

One thing that Diana, Woody and I can agree on is that natural gas will play an important role in the future of America’s energy.    Energy efficiency and environmental preservation can be achieved.

America Needs America’s Energy!

Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to learn more, and to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”.

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com

Facebook:  America Needs America’s Energy with 5000 supporters plus and growing.  —   America Needs America’s Energy:  Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!

It was great to be back in my hometown of Elk City on July 9^th to help kick-off the Hutchinson Oil Company’s CNG & Me Power Lunch held at the Civic Center.

There was a good crowd on hand.  I was glad to see several friends from Elk City and western Oklahoma including Shawn Wilson, Eddie Moore, Jimmy Albert and his son, Buddy Wood, L. V. Baker, Rand Baker, Anita Archer, David Dyson, Guy Hylton and Jimmy Eslin.

I am so very thankful for my Elk City and western Oklahoma roots.  It is the spirit of this region that has led America in the development of natural gas as a major energy resource.

Hutchinson Oil was founded in 1969 and in the same year south of Elk City, The GHK Company led by Robert Hefner III drilled the #1 Green well which was completed at a depth of 24,473 feet.  It was then the second deepest well in the world.

Soon thereafter, Elk City became known as the “Natural Gas Capitol of the World”.  In fact, I remember as an Elk City High School Key Club member handing out bumper stickers which proclaimed just that.

As part of Elk City and western Oklahoma history, what year do you think you would find an article in the Elk City Daily News entitled “New Company Promotes Investment in CNG Autos” which included the following statements:

“The natural gas industry has a great opportunity to promote economic and environmental stability for our nation.  It is imperative that the purchase of CNG vehicles, conversion of vehicles, and the construction of refueling stations for the use of CNG be encouraged within the State of Oklahoma.  Oklahoma is strategically located to provide natural gas to the nation and therefore create jobs within the state.”

The date was:  March 19, 1993.  Over twenty years ago, I made those statements at an Elk City Lions Club meeting and announced the formation of a company, NGV, Inc.

Two decades later, I have to wonder where America would be if we would have adopted and embraced the CNG technology that my company NGV was advocating.  Certainly our dependence on foreign oil would have diminished.  We’d be more dependent on natural gas, and the abundant supply of natural gas in our own country today would be used.  We would also be using a cleaner fuel, so in every way we would be far ahead of where we are today from an energy standpoint, and closer to energy independence that we could have imagined.

CNG Now!  Now is the time.  Now we can move forward with natural gas.

As Elk City and western Oklahoma launched the natural gas industry beginning in 1969, today this same region can launch the use of CNG.  It is great to see Hutchinson Oil be one of the leaders in this effort!

It is vital to Oklahoma’s economy that we have a strong natural gas industry.  Furthermore, it is extremely important to this Nation that we have a healthy natural gas industry.

America Needs America’s Energy and America Needs America’s Natural Gas!

Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to learn more, and to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”.

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com

Facebook:  America Needs America’s Energy with 5000 supporters plus and growing.  —   America Needs America’s Energy:  Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!

In the beginning of my book, America Needs America’s Energy I included “The Energy Prayer” by Nancy Huff.

As stated in the book, a decade ago, Nancy Huff of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, met then-Secretary of State Colin Powell at the National Prayer Breakfast. During their meeting, Secretary Powell asked Nancy to pray for Oklahoma to produce more oil because he believed that our country needed that oil. When Nancy returned to Oklahoma from Washington, D.C., she became active in The Energy Advocates and wrote a special book of prayers for the oil and gas industry. She prayed with a group every Thursday night for Oklahoma, the US, and the industry. I share with you one of those energy prayers:

“Father, I come to you and I ask protection for every drilling site, pipeline, refinery, production site, oil truck, tanker, or any other means of obtaining and transporting oil in the United States.

Protect all those who work in the oil industry, and give them safety and wisdom about every potentially dangerous situation.

I ask, as the oil and gas industry in this country grows, that the environment would be protected.

I ask for the development of new technology that will enable those in the energy industry to drill efficiently while protecting the environment.

Thank you for your hand of safety on the industry and the land that has helped to make the country great. Amen.”

Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to learn more, and to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”.

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com
Facebook: America Needs America’s Energy with 5000 supporters plus and growing. — America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!

This spring, I attended the Annual Energy Directors Conference at Rice University, Houston, Tx.

Cyber Security in the energy industry was addressed by experts in this field including two FBI agents.

The information that was provided was alarming. Several countries are involved in cyber-attacks targeting US companies.

The hackers are attempting to find out information about corporate finances, gain intellectual-property, access control systems of oil and gas pipelines and electric power generation.

Though the energy industry appears to be a major target, it is by far not the only target. All corporations are at risk.

The US is busy countering cyber-attack effects. According to authorities, the US is staying ahead. The main thing taken from the conference is for everyone to be alert and pro-active.

For example, according to Jeffrey M. Cunningham, “On Datong Road in Pudong, Shanghai, a nondescript 12-story high-rise built in 2007 is home to an unusual tenant, Military Unit 61398 of the People’s Liberation Army. A thousand Chinese workers make their living there, armed with advance Internet technology skills and high levels of English proficiency. A quick flyover would suggest that the office building housing Unit 61398 is a typical software development outpost. But the main business here is hacking computer networks in the US, and the only software developed is malware (malicious software used to disrupt computer’s operation, etc.). How do we know this? The US hacked into the Chinese facility.”

June 1, 2013 was National Day of Civic Hacking Day across many US cities including Tulsa, OK. The purpose was to address the issues and solutions US cyber security and hacking.

The US is so dependent on computers that we must be aggressive to address the issues of cyber security. Therefore, companies and individuals need to be pro-active. For further reading, I suggest the following books, Cyber War by Rickard A. Clarke and America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime and Warfare by Joel Brenner.

America’s Natural Energy Resources will help lead us to economic prosperity and energy security. Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to learn more, and to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”. Please let me know what you think!

During the filming of the documentary “The Grand Energy Transition” that I served as a producer of, I had the opportunity of having a conversation with Ted Turner, founder of CNN, in his Montana ranch house. Of course, our conversation focused on energy and the environment.

Ted was an investor in our documentary. He agreed to be interviewed for the film because he believes that natural gas holds promise. He believes that everyone should be watchful on energy usage and environmental preservation.

Though Ted and I do not agree on everything, we do agree that energy and environment can co-exist.

One question that I asked Ted, who at the time was 72, and who had achieved so much in his lifetime, was “what is left for you to accomplish?” His answer, “to change the world”, as he looked at me, as to say isn’t that what we are all to do?

Ted is definitely a man of action. He stands behind his words.

He has established Turner Renewable Energy (TRE). TRE believes that investing in renewable energy is not only a prudent financial decision, but also a crucial step toward answering our planet’s future health. TRE is committed to promoting the use of clean energy.

For example, TRE has the following projects:

The Luckie Street Solar Project is located on a two acre parking lot adjacent to the Turner building in Atlanta, Ga. It is comprised of 25 solar canopies. We discussed this project and a year later it was completed.

The Cimarron Solar Facility, Arizona, is among the nation’s largest solar photovoltaic plants at 30 megawatts.

The Apex Solar Facility is a 20 megawatt solar photovoltaic power plan in Nevada.

The Spectrum Solar Facility, Clark County, Nevada, is a 30 megawatt facility.

The Granville Solar Facility is a 40-acre site in North Carolina. It is a 2.5 mw facility.

Ted’s question to us- “what are we doing to change the world?”

America’s Natural Energy Resources will help lead us to economic prosperity and energy security. Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to learn more, and to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”.

Please let me know what you think, go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com
Facebook: America Needs America’s Energy with 5000 supporters plus and growing. — America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!