John Kerry Meets With Former Enemy, T. Boone Pickens
Kerry sat down with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens in an apparent effort to get Pickens to support his efforts to pass climate change legislation. Kerry, working with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, has recently moved away from a cap-and-trade approach and toward sector-by-sector carbon regulation.
Pickens has become a strong proponent of clean energy, spending money to advertise his "Pickens Plan," which includes a greater focus on wind energy and natural gas.
According to Politico, the meeting, which also included Graham and Lieberman, did not yield "concrete plans," but the men found areas in which they agree. The news outlet speculates that "the session just might have set the ball rolling for Pickens to spend millions of dollars supporting a potentially career defining bill sponsored by a former archenemy."
Pickens spent $2 million to bankroll the controversial Swift Boat ads that questioned Kerry's patriotism and military service during his presidential run. He reiterated his questioning of Kerry's service in 2007, offering $1 million to anyone who could prove the ads wrong. Many veterans who served with Kerry questioned the claims made in the ads and backed Kerry's account of events.