Well, it’s a start
T. Boone Pickens says between now and Election Day we're going to see his face on TV nearly as much as the presidential candidates.
In the months to come he'll draw on his considerable fortune for an ad campaign plumping his idea of how to cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil by 38% over the next decade.
The gist of it is this: Build a network of wind turbines stretching from Texas to the Dakotas to reduce the electrical grid's dependence on natural gas, and instead use more natural gas (in compressed form) to power cars and trucks.
If Pickens is as serious about putting his mug on TV as he says, he will definitely influence the debate, and probably for the better. His input will be a vast improvement over the disingenuous and insipid "debate" we've seen so far from Washington — in which conservatives try to make the case that allowing drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will somehow bring back $2 gas within weeks, and liberals insist "we can't drill our way out of the problem" as if some magical government program will perfect solar-powered cars and jets before those offshore and Alaskan fields can be brought online.
At least Pickens might get people talking about the real issues. All to the good.
Of course, the devil is in the details. Aside from the obvious point that wind power and natural gas are two areas in which his BP Capital Management has a significant stake — and he'll have to address that during every interview he does on this subject — there are two rather thorny issues to be dealt with.
The first is who pays for all the new transmission lines these turbines will have to feed? Pickens says he'll put up the money himself for the property he's set aside for turbines in the Texas panhandle, but what about elsewhere? And for that matter, who will buy the property where the turbines will be built? And no, existing federal lands won't cut it. As much land as the federal government owns west of the 100th meridian, little of it [.pdf] is in the states where Pickens envisions this network of windmills.
And if that wasn't a big enough problem, there's issue number two: Like oil, natural gas is a resource in decline. U.S. production in particular has flatlined if not outright fallen during this decade, and Matt Simmons thinks there's a good case to be made that world supply has peaked as well. U.S. usage during this decade has zoomed up as utilities found gas-fired power plants much easier to build (for a variety of reasons) than coal or nuclear. So whether gas is used for power generation or transportation fuel, we're going to need more of it, and it'll have to be imported, be it piped in from Canada or liquefied and shipped in from overseas. So much for reducing U.S. dependence on foreigners for our energy.
But hey, the Pickens plan is a start. It's better than what the politicians are yakking about. And if it gets more folks thinking about the real issues when it comes to energy, it might be a net plus.
Sphere: Related Content
perhaps you didn’t listen to the crux of his argument
the wealth transfer of 700 million dollars a year is the largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind
and this is every year, ad nauseum, at least so far
further, he stated that the natural gas car was a transition to the next generation of fuel cell, electric or whatever is discovered to be most competitive
so, you keep pointing out the shortcomings and he’ll take the lead
as to who will pay, he said it would require zero public dollars
and the landowners will be incentivised (sp?), trust me, to make the corridor productive
Comment on July 9, 2008 @ 8:07 am
I’ll be interested to see how T Boone handles enviromentalist concerns about the danger windmills pose to birds. You can’t tell them that the rotational speed of windmills of that size is too slow to actually catch a bird in flight. It’s the stupid bird that flies head on into the blade that causes their injury.
Comment on July 9, 2008 @ 11:22 am
To anonymous #1… The "wealth transfer" wouldn't be such a source of concern if we didn't have to live in mortal fear that OPEC countries — to say nothing of the Chinese — will start sending their stash of increasingly-worthless Treasuries back to IOUSA. But Pickens doesn't like to talk about that; indeed he asserts over and over that a falling dollar has nothing to do with rising oil prices. Such talk may serve his allies within the GOP faction of the power elite, but sadly it undercuts his credibility as a Peak Oil man. Now… if his plan can be pulled off with zero taxpayer dollars, more power to him. But when I see talk of the feds overriding state eminent domain laws to make this happen (among other steps), then we're still looking at a significant expansion of Washington's power. God help us if the Pickens plan metastasizes into a 21st Century Tennessee Valley Authority.
Comment on July 9, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
I’m all for T. Boones program as long as we specify that the rotating blades be set at a zone of from 4′ to 6′5″ off the ground, start a pay per view channel broadcasting show trials of our publishers, politicians and their K Street Bag men and use the rotating blades as guillotines….sending said revenue resulting to whoever holds notes on our careening economy so that we can at least maintain the premise of paying off the debt instead of inflating it away.
The Official Program of Said Show Trials to be the published findings by the IMF on the Economy of the United States, published as a serial in Screw Magazine
Comment on July 9, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
Hey, look at Boone’s map. It’s much more efficient to put the turbines in Southern Argentina where most of the birds are penguins that are flightless. Just need a long transmission line.
Comment on July 9, 2008 @ 10:05 pm
Natural gas UNLIKE oil is not a resource in decline.
After you sit on your toilet and flush it (using drinking water of corse instead of industrial one ) you just send down the drain few cubic feet of natural gas , let’s call it ” biogas ” which can be obtain from human waste.
Or if you preffer, one or two pints of ethanol…
But I suppose we are too civilized to stir the shit, don’t we?…
Comment on July 10, 2008 @ 12:08 am
When the oil price causes gas prices to hit the $9 to $10 per gallon range, and when it costs the average family $1500/month to heat their macmansions, a lot of the featherheaded bird greenies may see things differently as they sit shivering in the dark in the Takoma Park/DC suburb neighborhoods.
Comment on July 10, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
The first one, again. I have been reading comments from several blogs, etc about the ugliness, the storm damage threat and the poor birds.
What a bunch of idiotic drivel presented as paper tiger constructs.
But, that’s to be expected I suppose in the age of fear, greed and excess. Whenever anyone dares to lead, there will be a symphony of others who would attempt to discourage. Well, screw them.
If I was going to be in a fight, and we truly are my friends, I would want T. Boone on my side.
Comment on July 11, 2008 @ 5:58 am
we have windfarms in Manitoba where the energy company leases the land from farmers on a 20 year basis. Provides monthly income to the farmer and the windmills are spaced to not create an eyesore. Each landowner makes their own decision if the want one on their property. Private sector risk capital so why not?
Comment on July 11, 2008 @ 4:18 pm
Bravo T. Boone, You have what our so called LEADERS are lacking,”Common Sense” I am 100% on your side.You are looking out for our country, don’t you wish our politians would?
Comment on July 11, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
how many birds do cars kill a year - also worms, all types of bugs, possums, racoons, dogs , cats, armadillos ( sp ) etc. etc, etc - and of course PEOPLE — where did you learn your reasoning ??????
GET REAL
Comment on July 11, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
I like birds as much as the next person(I’m especially fond of duck breast in a pepper sauce). Seriously though, isn’t this a Darwinian thing? i.e., won’t birds learn fairly quickly not to fly into tall objects with spinning blades? As for alternative energy in general, “just say no” is not an option. Those in opposition, please state your solutions. I’m pretty sure that if we try to rely almost exclusively on traditional energy sources, you’re not going to like the resulting society in 20 years.
Comment on July 11, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
@Dave Gonigam
“he asserts over and over that a falling dollar has nothing to do with rising oil prices.”
The falling dollar only has an effect for Americans. Have you tried charting oil prices based on gold? Nah, that would be too easy. (rolls eyes)
@Mario
“After you sit on your toilet and flush it”
And where does THAT energy come from? Oh yeah, the food we eat. So why not go straight to the source…the sun (wind, water).
Comment on July 11, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
I can’t imagine how some would never move even when fire is lite under them. I guess some of us never learn quick. May be, this is why some make “A’s & B’s while other make “C’s” or fail.
Mr. Boone is pointing us in the right direction of independence from our biggest pain. I am so happy for his action, especially, during this “vote war” season. I value this type of vision so much that i am willing to invest two years of work without pay as an investement to rescue my children and our country’s future - I want the yields compounded though- (laughs). Seriously, I believe the families of those 4000+ soldiers killed in Iraq and other areas of our “great Interests”(oil) will appreciate a change for the memory of their family.
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 1:35 am
To Josh
I have nothing against sun, wind, water, nuclear or whatever. From my point of view all are welcome, even in my backyard.
What I wanted to highlit is another source of energy completely ignored here in the States. And is viable! In Poland , Germany Denmark and other European countries I saw whith my own eyes farms and remote localities completely energy independent.They run on a mixture of windmills, solar pannels, geotermal energy, but the most energy they pull out is from extracting “biogas” from human and animal waste which after some purrification , mainly of sulfides, are used on a vast range of applications - from cooking on kitchen to heat their homes in the winter time, and even power small electric turbines.In the same time this helps dealing with some aspects of pollution, because after extraction of “biogas” what remains could be used as a low degree fertilizer on the field. So when I said ” we are too civilized to stir the shit” I really mean it…Literally…
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 1:39 am
Josh, I'm well aware that oil priced in gold has only appreciated around 10% over the last decade, IIRC. That gets to the crux of my beef with Pickens — he addresses only the supply-demand factor with high oil prices and not the damage Bush, Greenspan, et.al. have done to the currency. (Bill Bonner addresses this a bit in Friday's DR essay.) Charles, just remember Pickens "voted war" too. He was a Giuliani guy in the primaries.
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 5:40 am
I’m with Gunter. T. Boone, you are a Great American!
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 9:02 am
I think Mr. Pickens’ plan is a great one, for the short term. That is his original intent.
We have to do something to get our nation off of foreign oil dependence. As a nation, we should have done it more than 30 years ago with our last energy crisis. However, the cost of oil went back down and the supply of oil was bountiful again so we chose not to. That was a huge, stupid mistake.
Other nations have varying degrees of dependence on foreign oil, but are trying to use all sorts of renewable energy in place of oil. What is our excuse? If you think about it, we have none!
Brazil is almost self sufficent regarding its energy. We could be there as well. We have the technology now and have had it for more than 30 years. Yes, it is true that for right now to put some of these things into manufacturing on a broad base, they will likely cost more, but once they are widely accepted prices will decline!
The ones that will ultimately pay the price will be our children, grandchildren and beyond.
As for me and my family, we are trying to use as few non-renewable resources as possible. It requires a new way of thinking, but isn’t that what Americans are all about… ingenuity?
It amazes me that we as Americans declare our independence to the world, not realizing that we are ultimately slaves to a civilization stuck in the 7th century. Yes, we are slaves, or hostages if you like, to the Middle East. I don’t know about you, but I think I would rather determine my own destiny instead of leaving it in the hands of some sheik 10,000 miles away.
Whatever choices we make, it will cost us something. But, we should make the hard decisions now because the longer we wait, the more expensive it will be to pay the piper.
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
The fact that the critics are more concerned about birds, sight pollution and how much T. Boone has to gain speaks volumes about the problems we face. To discover just how pathetic our leaders are on this issue check out President Carter’s energy speeches on You Tube.
Now, I’m no fan of President Carter but listen to what he had to say 30 years ago and ask yourself how far have we come since then?
Our leaders need to make energy independence the #1 goal. We need wind, geothermal, solar, more oil, coal, nuclear you name it. It seems it is virtually impossible for anything to be accomplished because some person, group or “endangered” species advocate has a problem with any of the possible options.
We need to cut the red tape, eliminate the road blocks and start doing something. At least T. Boone is trying to do something positive. So far Washington has come up with turning our food into fuel and trying to tax oil companies. Brilliant!
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
Regarding everyone’s solution to the surface of our countrie’s energy problems. As oil is calculated in the USD and given our currency is currently under valued at a 30% plus discount to the rest of the world’s currencies, oil is definitely costlier for the US to purchase by about 30%. Does’nt it make sense to improve our trade imbalance first in order to increase the value of our dollar, thereby reducing our cost for the oil that we need to import? Here is the long term majority solution that is now needed: Start by trashing our current complex and confusing tax code and replacing it with the Fair Tax Propoal {HR 25} awaiting action in Washington}. This new way of funding our countries needs, if voted into law, would start by eliminating corporate and employment taxes. As this is the primary reason US corporations move off shore to begin with, welcome back manufacturing jobs of America. This measure would also eliminate capital gains tax, income tax, and countless other taxes embedded {invisible} in many products and services we use and need in this country, including gasoline {products and services become more competitve and less expensive lowering the inflation rate}…By eliminating the capital gains tax alone, would invite over 10 trillion USD back to work in our own econonomy, instead of sitting in off shore bank accounts {stimulating our economy}…It’s time to stop the lies, greed and special interests of a few and begin seeking the truth, which is rarely seen and almost never heard these days. The day of reckoning has arrived…let’s wake up smell the coffee and invite action that answers real questions with the truth.
Comment on July 12, 2008 @ 5:40 pm
There are several excellent comments on this blog. In particular, I agree 100% with John S. - we need to do EVERYTHING (drill, nuclear, solar, wind etc.) with urgency to be energy independent. Will it happen? Probably not. When we have politicians posturing on how this can help them instead of offering real solutions and idiots worried about birds flying into windmills… I am a student of history and all empires came crumbling down from forces within. My friends, I am afraid that the U.S. is well down this irreversible path…. By the way, if we did take care of our energy problems, oil prices would plummet and it would go a long ways in eliminating the major funding for terrorism (our other Achilles’ heal).
Comment on July 15, 2008 @ 1:03 am
[...] already expressed mild misgivings the week he unveiled the Pickens Plan. But I gave him points for trying to [...]
Pingback on August 1, 2008 @ 9:02 am
[...] already expressed mild misgivings the week he unveiled the Pickens Plan. But I gave him points for trying to get us [...]
Pingback on August 4, 2008 @ 8:04 am
[...] 5: For more on the Pickens’ Plan, check out the Daily Reckoning Blog … pretty interesting conversation cropping up [...]
Pingback on May 4, 2009 @ 9:53 pm