T. Boone Pickens writes on the status of U.S. energy policy in Real Clear Politics: “It has been over 40 years since President Richard Nixon addressed the nation on the need for a national energy policy. That was on Nov. 7, 1973, during the Arab oil embargo precipitated by war in the Mideast.”

The piece continues: “If ever there was a chance to develop and implement a wide ranging energy policy, that was the time. But the Watergate scandal intervened and, as has happened so many times since, a national energy policy got pushed — not just to a back burner, but completely off the stove.”

“Forty years and seven presidents later, we are no farther along with a cohesive energy policy than we were when Richard Nixon delivered that speech. In fact, we may be worse off. Energy leadership in our government is more fragmented today than ever.”