Meridian Star - Let's go green without their help

The successful, billionaire oil prospector and hedge fund speculator, T. Boone Pickens, has announced that he is going to invest part of his fortune into renewable energy and develop fields of wind turbines. He's read the research and believes it will repay his investment.

Now, I've written this before and I'm going to say it again because there is not an elected official out there, outside of Dennis Kucinich, who'll risk losing contributions by supporting a "socialist," "big-government," program that will challenge the monopolization of our future energy sources by vulture capitalists like Pickens. Of course, when it comes to saving our failing banks, “big government” works for them.

We can, through our counties, cities and states, as well as our federal government, generate enough capital to invest in solar, wind and geo-thermal energy and do the same thing that Pickens is planning to do. That's the way the public can compete with the big monied interests.

I don’t disagree with Picken’s plan to use natural gas in automobiles. The British public transit system has been using natural gas in their buses for years so it’s not some new idea. Since Pickens has invested heavily in natural gas futures, he stands to make a killing there, too.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that while our economy is falling and prices rising, oil companies have been making record-setting profits. At the same time, speculators like Pickens have made fortunes buying oil futures which has contributed to the rise in gas prices.

Monopolists like Pickens want to be able to say in the end that they're the ones who saved us. When they've enslaved us.

Scott Tyner

Hattiesburg
Meridian Star - Let's go green without their help