Pickens Plans On Wind Power

Hugh Pickens writes "T. Boone Pickens (no relation) has launched an energy plan and social-networking campaign that calls for replacing Middle Eastern oil with Midwestern wind. The Pickens Plan would exploit the country's 'wind corridor' from the Canadian border to West Texas to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity and provide an economic revival for rural America. Transmission lines would be built to transport the power where the demand is and natural gas, now used to fuel power plants, would instead be used as a transportation fuel, which burns cleaner than gasoline and is domestic. Pickens proposed that the private sector finance the investment, which would result in a one-third reduction, equal to $230 billion, in the U.S.' yearly payments to foreign countries. Pickens has already invested heavily in wind, notably a planned 4,000-megawatt wind farm in his native Texas. 'We've got to get renewable into the mix. The problem for this country is that we're paying $700 billion — you heard that — $700 billion a year,' Pickens says. 'We can't afford that. In 10 years we'll be broke if we continue that.'"

Comments

Water for sale? Just plain wrong

[VoyagerRadio]

We already pay for tap water: through our taxes. Pickens wants to change that, however: he wants us to pay a private owner for water, even water that's disputably owned. It think it's a bad idea. Do we really want to see private ownership of water? Then corporate ownership? It's bad enough that most consumers are being fooled by Pepsi and Coca Cola Bottling for their unregulated water products (which aren't any better than tap water, and are possibly worse); water should be free, everywhere, and perhaps the *only* resource government *must* provide.

Re:Um

[thrashee]

Yet another poster whose "claim" is to simply spout out RTFA.

Anyone have any idea of the feasibility of actually using natural gas to fuel transportation? Yes? No? I'm willing to bet that in the long run, it's simply not as efficient. Electric cars are great, but they haven't made a major dent in the industry, now have they?

Tornadoes get a bad rap

[spineboy]

Or maybe T. Boone Pickens is a big fan of tornadoes, and doesn't like all the bad press they get. Now with wind power being a good thing, people will look forward to a tornado, since it might really give the city a nice little boost of energy. This way Mr. Pickens gets to refurbish theimage of tornadoes, like how John Travolta became cool again after Pulp Fiction.