{"id":505452,"date":"2010-04-02T06:20:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-02T10:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/congressman-natural-gas-act-has-real-chance-of-meeting-t-boones-may-deadline-2010-4"},"modified":"2010-04-02T06:20:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T10:20:00","slug":"the-taxpayers-big-gift-to-t-boone-pickens-has-a-real-chance-of-coming-by-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/505452","title":{"rendered":"The Taxpayer’s Big Gift To T. Boone Pickens Has A “Real Chance” Of Coming By May"},"content":{"rendered":"

The T. Boone Pickens backed Natural Gas Act<\/em> has a “real chance” of finding its way through Congress and on to the President’s desk by Memorial Day, according to Congressman Dan Boren, the bill’s author.<\/p>\n

And while the act is not likely to be a part of a major energy overhaul, according to Congressman Boren, it’s likely it will get tucked into a jobs bill or another catch all piece of legislation before the end of May.<\/p>\n

The Natural Gas Act includes provisions to increase the use of gas amongst government and private consumers. The goal, according to the Congressman, is to, “make sure we have a demand for natural gas.”<\/p>\n

Part<\/em> of the problem with the natural gas market is that demand growth is low. Traditional sources, like the industrial sector and electricity production have low demand growth, 1.2% and 1.8%<\/a> respectively. The real opportunity for growth is in fuel for automobiles where natural gas is hardly used.<\/p>\n

That being said — while it’s alluring and cheap — the lack of infrastructure is a huge problem.<\/p>\n

Without an increase in demand, companies will find it hard to make a profit in 2 to 3 years, according to the Congressman.<\/p>\n

That is also true for T. Boone Pickens, whose investments in natural gas include his Clean Energy Fuels Corp.<\/a>, which is the “largest provider of natural gas for transportation in North America,” according to its website.<\/p>\n

Pickens owns 47%<\/a> of the common stock of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which gives him a controlling interest in the company. The firm’s net income for 2009 was a negative $33.7 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Natural Gas Act<\/a> includes specific provisions for the promotion of sale of natural gas and natural gas powered vehicles:<\/p>\n