Natural Gas Subsidies.

Courtesy of Instapundit:

T. BOONE PICKENS: “I bought this bill!”

I have lot of respect for Mr. Pickens. He built Mesa Petroleum into one of the largest independent energy producers. Mr. Pickens has obviously been a successful entrepreneur in the energy field. He's so right that we should be energy independent that it hurts. It shows political savvy that he invested in politicians and ads so that he could get energy subsidies passed that would greatly increase the value of his investments.

At that point we part company:

1. Politicians should not be for sale.
2. Energy subsides, in a crashed economy, for a product that if we simply permitted the known reserves to be pumped out of the ground - using fracking and other new technologies - would sell at half its current price, borders on crazy. I will allow, that it doesn't approach the stupidity of ethanol subsidies (in the midst of a starving world we are burning food as fuel???) If Mr. Pickens had advocated reducing regulatory impediments to production, improving the pipeline infrastructure, and funding research into maximizing the yield of of our oil/gas fields instead, we would be in lockstep. If we can make natural gas cheap enough it will be used for vehicles and power generation - no subsidy needed.
   
3. LPG (propane) is a better vehicle fuel than natural gas.

LPG fork lifts are used in food processing plants because of low emissions (much faster to refuel than electric fork lifts). Refilling an LPG tank takes about 30-40 seconds. You can sniff the vehicle exhaust. We ran the irrigation pump at my Dad's farm from a 1000 gal propane (LPG) tank for over 30 years (we refilled it once a year).

Further, per cubic foot propane (LPG) has 2.5 the energy density of methane (natural gas). LPG is stored at 100 to 200 psi in liquid form. Natural gas doesn't liquify at room temperature, it is normal stored as CNG (compressed natural gas) by compressing it to 2900–3600 psi. ANG (Adsorbed Natural Gas) tank technology can store natural gas at 500 psi but the tank will be much slower to refill than an LPG tank, filling isn't as safe, and the tank will be heavier than an LPG tank. 150 psi is better than 500 psi.

It troubles me that some buses are probably using CNG at 3600 psi - that's a flammable gas stored at more pressure than a scuba tank. This is essentially an unexploded IED.
See below:
After bus explosion, probe begins
Gas Explosion at PT Facility - Seattle Transit Blog