On Wednesday, T. Boone Pickens criticized the Obama administration’s lack of action regarding the Keystone pipeline. Pickens stressed the U.S. would be ‘absolute fools if we let it get away from us.’
CARL QUINTANILLA: Hey, Boone, it's Carl. A lot of discussion this week whether we'll get a Keystone announcement. It felt like the White House was going put it out there in conjunction with some sort of broad climate change initiative and that appears to have been rolled back a little bit. Do you think we'll hear more in the back half of this year?
BOONE PICKENS: I don't know, Carl. I’ve been very surprised that this decision -- you know, they're choking on a gnat. The decision should have been an easy one. There’s 250 billion barrels of oil up in Fort McMurray. That oil is available to the United States. How does 250 billion compare around the world? That’s what the Saudis claim they have. 250 billion barrels. Here you are with oil at the level of Saudi Arabia, contiguous to America wanting to sell it to us. We are absolute fools if we let that get away from us.
QUINTANILLA: It's amazing to me, Boone, even with all that policy and decision and some of the concerns that Simon brings up, I mean, this is still, regardless of all of that, turning into a huge economic tailwind for this country. David Tepper this week said it would drive a manufacturing renaissance here. What we'll be responsible for in terms of output over the next few years is unbelievable.
PICKENS: It is unbelievable you're right and we have built on the back of cheap energy in the United States. The economy does well. Any country in the world that is using their own resources is doing well and that's exactly what can happen to the United States if we had a little leadership in Washington to take us down that path.