T.Boone Pickens-- Part 2-- The Energy Plan

Mr. Pickens has an energy plan that he has been promoting since the last presidential election in the USA. This is a man who has made billions. He has also given away millions of dollars in his lifetime to various charities and his Alma mater. Indeed, he is a man that should be listened to. Lately he has been promoting alternative energy sources such as his favorite, natural gas. Its his choice for America's future as a fuel choice. He promotes starting with the countries transportation systems like buses and garbage trucks. He also likes electric/hybrid, ethanol, and solar power as options. He makes a valid point in asking about where the source of electricity comes from, noting that it is not cheap to produce. Other interesting points of note in the book is dealing with water. As with oil, water is also finite. An estimate is that roughly 75% of the Earth is water. Only 1% of that is deemed drinkable! Lots of countries have scarcity issues as well as clean water issues. We have even seen drought issues here in the United States recently. We all know that wars have been fought over oil, and he claims that wars of the next century could be fought over water. He states that water will get more valuable and that its prices will go up. As populations increase, so does the problem with water.Next up we need to think of energy sources such as wind power. Pickens built the largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. Wind is a clean energy source, its readily available, domestic, and a renewable natural resource. Wind power does not create any pollution! The one downside is the way they look. The turbines themselves can be 330 feet tall to the hub-the center of the blades from the ground. Then you can add another 150 feet or more from the hub to the tips of the blades. One can be the equivalent in size of a 48 story building. All of the above mentioned topics are a part of The Pickens Plan. As you can see, I will not be going into too much detail, but here are some of the main points of his plan.

Pickens thinks that the number one priority is to have leadership whose mandate is to make reducing America's reliance on foreign oil our number one national priority. The cost to do business with other countries when buying their oil could undermine the U.S.'s position as a superpower. Basically, we are at their mercy in situations like this. He also says that developing alternative fuels is not about cleaning up the environment. For him, alternative energy will help America achieve it's national energy security. He is pushing in his plan wind power as the solution for our current energy woes. Government needs to subsidize wind and solar power in his opinion. Wind can generate 20% of U.S. electricity in less than ten years. If we take much longer, like 2030, our country could be bankrupt. One 3- megawatt wind turbine can produce the same amount of energy in a year as 12,000 barrels of imported oil. Wind and solar corridors could generate 20 to 40% of the nation's electricity. He believes we should be pushing natural gas next and then clean coal. Natural gas, again, should be used for our transportation systems.Also, he recommends stepping up Nuclear Power to a new level. He says that our federal government has to push this plan. They can't just stand back or let the usual slow bureaucratic way of doing things stop us or slow us down from creating some alternatives. We all know that the federal government has a way of bringing great plans to a screeching halt. We have to remember that these new energies will produce new jobs and revitalize towns and the United States as a whole. Job growth , a larger tax base,then leading to housing construction--all will be results of pushing this plan.Do we need to wait until the situation is dire?Pickens has a plan ;at least we should give it or something like it a chance.Do people have to suffer through price gouging and inflation and death in wars before we will do something? Can America stand strong and lead the nation and the world again into a new era?