Tom Leppert Has a Little Conversation with T. Boone Pickens

It was "only five, maybe ten minutes," Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said of his conversation with T. Boone on using natural gas instead of diesel (the City is on the verge committing its bus fleet to diesel). It's interesting how competing objectives and moving target costs can obscure clear choice. Diesel saves $54 million over natural gas, proponents said at first...$200 million they said later. How are they forecasting for diesel and natural gas, given the volatile price histories of each? Is there a way for them to make account for the external costs of foreign diesel dependency? Are the fuels environmentally equivalent (diesel was dirty but is getting cleaner, but is it cleaner than natural gas today; will it get cleaner still going forward--who can weigh in authoritatively)?

In the absence of an over-arching national strategy (sustainably eliminate foreign oil dependence, for instance), it's tougher to evaluate options for local decisions with so many moving price pieces and in the swirl of so many opinions. Here's hoping that people like incoming National Security Advisor Jim Jones, a former Marine with a keen sense of how energy and national security issues intersect, can articulate a national strategy that creates a meaty backdrop for state and local decision making (like the for-now-stalled Dallas fleet fueling decision).

National strategy doesn't have to dole out incentives to influence local decision making. Example. Building mechanical engineers often over-designed air conditioning and air distribution systems because "you don't get in trouble with building owners if occupants don't complain," and most owners weren't good at connecting sloppy, inflated construction design with inflated construction costs and utility bills. Green building strategy helped us re-look at the habit of over-designing air conditioning and brought a renewed focus on efficient design. Green building strategy didn't hand out rebates to go green, it just helped people think about things differently.

Likewise, a clear national strategy to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil could help shape that swirl of opinion that decides whether city buses are diesel or natural gas.