Goal For The Green

Ever heard of the Bakken Formation?

The U.S. Geological Service issued a report in April (’08) that only scientists and oilmen knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn’t been updated since ’95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota; western South Dakota; and extreme eastern Montana … check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable… at $107 a barrel, we’re looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years,’ reports The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It’s a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the ‘Bakken.’ And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada. For years, U.S.oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the ‘Big Oil’ companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken’s massive reserves… and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That’s enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years straight.

Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. Our government has know about this for at least the last two years!

We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

-8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
-18-times as much oil a s Iraq
-21-times as much oil as Kuwait
-22-times as much oil as Iran
-500-times as much oil as Yemen- and it’s all right here in the Western United States.

So, my question is why are we looking at drilling in Utah? Much of the area they are talking about there is beautiful and pristine.  It would greatly deface the beauty of the area, to drill and put oil wells there.  Why are’nt we looking at The Bakken area to greatly help us get off of our foreign oil dependence? Why instead are we looking at drilling offshore? Why is this answer being ignored?

Yes, oil prices have dropped significantly since July of this year.  But, that doesn’t mean that we can return to our gas guzzling ways.  I’m not saying that oil is the answer, but this is like sitting on a gold mine. It can at least lead us to oil independence.  I can’t help but believe, that the Bakken holds many more answers to our energy crisis than just oil. It at the very least would be a great place to start the journey toward energy independence and conservation.

It’s shocking to hear coming from a billionaire oil man. There is no easy fix to the energy “emergency” we are in. T.Boone Pickens has set out to build an Army of Americans to fight for the cause of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. The 80 year old oil tycoon is lobbying for his energy plan, arguing that “This is one emergency that we can’t drill our way out of.”

Currently we are spending $700 billion dollars a year in foreign oil. Mr. Pickens wants to replace more than 1/3 of the oil we import with wind, natural gas, solar and other “green” energy sources. His plan states that it can be done in less than a decade. He sees America as the “Saudi Arabia of wind,” stating that it is the future of this country. To back up his plan, he is currently building the worlds largest 4,000 megawatt wind farm, on 400,000 acres in Pampa, Texas.

Wind could be the source of energy for many of our power plants that currently run on natural gas. This then would free-up natural gas to power planes, trains and cars. It would be cleaner and much more economical, while cutting down our dependence on foreign oil.

As Americans, we need to put aside our political views, stand up and insist that whoever is elected, do something in the area of exploring alternative energy sources. We can start by contacting our elected state representatives and insist that they take action on these issues.

For the last forty years we have been operating “like fools without a plan. ” At least now there is a plan. It is a place to start to put our country back on the track of being self sustaining. Our government isn’t doing anything, so it’s our turn! For more information visit: