U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has repeatedly challenged T. Boone Pickens’ assessment that more domestic oil drilling is not the answer to the nation’s energy needs.  “I think that when (longtime Texas oil executive) T. Boone Pickens comes on television and says, ‘this is one problem we can’t drill our way out of,’ I’m not sure he’s right on that,” King recently told the Spencer Daily Reporter.

Pickens, who pitched his renewable energy and natural gas-based Pickens Plan in Le Mars Thursday before about 700 people, had a quick response when Iowa Independent asked him about King’s view in a news conference after the event.

“I can tell you how he can get a real good lesson on that — put some money in it,” Pickens said. “We’ll see how much money he makes out of it. If he wants to go into off-shore drilling off the East Coast or the West Coast you’re not going to find much oil there. That’s not going to be any big payday for America.”