Alternative Energy Crusader T. Boone Pickens to Give Keynote Address at The Work Truck Show® 2009 Green Truck Summit
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI (Feb. 12, 2009) ‘ Texas billionaire, energy activist and entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens will give the keynote address at The Work Truck Show® 2009 Green Truck Summit on Tuesday, March 3, the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) announced today. The NTEA also reported that booth space for The Work Truck Show 2009 is sold out and that registration for the Show is running 7 percent higher than at the same time last year.
The Work Truck Show 2009, North America’s largest work truck event, is held in conjunction with the 45th Annual NTEA Convention March 3–6, 2009 (show floor opens March 4) at the McCormick Place West Building in Chicago, IL. It brings together new vocational trucks, equipment and related products from more than 440 companies across 500,000 square feet of exhibit space. More than 40 industry-specific training courses are offered, including the Green Truck Summit, the industry’s foremost forum for insight into how the ‘green revolution” impacts vocational trucks in the real world. The Green Truck Summit, sponsored by International Truck, is an intensive, full-day program, kicking off with Pickens’ presentation at 9:00am. The keynote is followed by four general sessions and 18 breakout sessions covering alternative fuels, hybrid vehicle technology, fleet experiences with existing technology, and the latest product and technology developments. The Green Truck Summit is held on Tuesday, March 3, from 9:00am’4:30pm. Registration is required.
Pickens is on a mission to break the ‘stranglehold” of foreign oil on the United States economy. After 35 years of lobbying the federal government to form a comprehensive energy policy for the country, he introduced his own plan in July 2008. The Pickens Plan calls for building wind farms to provide up to 22 percent of the country’s electricity, developing a 21st century backbone electrical grid and using domestic natural gas as fuel to power fleet vehicles and heavy-duty trucks. He has spent over $58 million promoting the plan, which is detailed at www.pickensplan.com.
Pickens started his career as an oilman, founding Mesa Petroleum with a $2,500 investment, and building it over 40 years into one of America’s largest independent natural gas and oil companies. After retiring from Mesa Petroleum, he bought its natural gas holdings and established Clean Energy, a major provider of natural gas (CNG and LNG) for vehicles, including those in the refuse, trucking and municipal fleet markets. He served for nearly three years as chairman of the National Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, traveling the country advocating the merits of natural gas. Another of his companies, Mesa Power LLP, is in the process of building the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. Pickens is chairman and CEO of BP Capital Management, which operates energy-focused investment funds.
‘T. Boone Pickens will offer Green Truck Summit attendees a unique, business-oriented perspective on the value of alternative fuels based on his incomparable experience with both traditional and alternative energy sources,” says Jim Carney, NTEA executive director. ‘It will be an insightful and thought-provoking kickoff to the event.”
Pickens is the author of autobiographical The First Billion Is the Hardest and The Luckiest Guy in the World. In 2006, he received the Horatio Alger Award, which recognizes people who overcome adversity and humble beginnings to achieve success. He was named ‘CEO of the Decade” by Financial World in 1989 and one of the ‘100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century” by Oil and Gas Investor. Forbes ranks Pickens as the 117th richest person in the U.S. A noted philanthropist, he has donated more than $700 million’nearly a third of his net worth’to charity.
Produced annually by the NTEA, The Work Truck Show showcases Class 1-8 vocational trucks and equipment. To register for The Work Truck Show 2009 and the Green Truck Summit, visit www.ntea.com or call 1-800-441-NTEA (6832).
Established in 1964, the NTEA is the leading association supporting the $101 billion work truck and trailer industry. The Association currently represents more than 1,700 companies that manufacture, distribute, install, sell and repair commercial trucks, truck bodies, truck equipment, trailers and accessories. Buyers of work trucks and the major commercial truck chassis manufacturers also belong to the Association. The NTEA provides in-depth technical information, education and member programs and services, and produces The Work Truck Show®. The Association maintains its administrative headquarters in suburban Detroit and a government relations office in Washington, DC. For more information, call 1-800-441-NTEA (6832), or visit www.ntea.com.