Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind
Don Tiberone
SWEETWATER, Texas — Get ready, America, T. Boone Pickens is coming to
your living room.
The legendary Texas oilman, corporate raider, shareholder-rights
crusader, philanthropist and deep-pocketed moneyman for conservative
politicians and causes, wants to drive the USA's political and
economic agenda.
"We're paying $700 billion a year for foreign oil. It's breaking us as
a nation, and I want to elevate that question to the presidential
debate, to make it the No. 1 issue of the campaign this year," Pickens
says.
Today, Pickens will take the wraps off what he's calling the Pickens
Plan for cutting the USA's demand for foreign oil by more than a third
in less than a decade. To promote it, he is bankrolling what his aides
say will be the biggest public policy ad campaign ever. The website,
www.pickensplan.com, goes live today.
Jay Rosser, Pickens' ever-present public relations man, promises that
Pickens' face will be seen on Americans' televisions this fall almost
as frequently as John McCain's and Barack Obama's.
"Neither presidential candidate is talking about solving the oil
problem. So we're going to make 'em talk about it," Pickens says.
"Nixon said in 1970 that we were importing 20% of our oil and that by
1980 it would be 0%. That didn't happen," Pickens says. "It went to
42% in 1991 with the Gulf War. It's just under 70% now. Where do you
think we're going to be in 10 years when our economy is busted and
we're importing 80% of our oil?"
Finding solutions to other major issues, including health care, are
important, he concedes. But "If you don't solve the energy problem,
it's going to break us before we even get to solving health care and
some of these other important issues." And it has to be done with the
same sense of urgency that President Eisenhower had when he pushed the
rapid development of the interstate highway system during the Cold
War.
Of course, Pickens also has a particular solution in mind.
Wind. And natural gas.
Last week, Pickens loaded up his $60 million, top-of-the-line
Gulfstream G550 corporate jet with reporters and a few associates from
his Dallas-based BP Capital energy hedge fund and related companies
and flew here to illustrate just how big — and achievable — his vision
is.
There's not much to Sweetwater except for wild grasses, scraggy
mesquite trees and rattlesnakes (Sweetwater hosts its famous
Rattlesnake Roundup each spring). The gently rolling terrain and
vegetation make it ideal for raising cattle, which is what its first
settlers did in the 19th century, and what their descendants do today.
A regional oil boom in the 1950s and 1960s poured money into the
area's economy, as have two oil revivals since: one in the 1980s and
one now.
But the exciting new industry in town is wind energy. You can drive
for 150 miles along Interstate 20 and never be out of sight of a giant
wind turbine, claims Sweetwater Mayor Greg Wortham, who does double
duty as executive director of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium.
Were it a country all by itself, Nolan County, Texas, would rank sixth
on the list of wind-energy-producing nations, says Wortham. Year-round
wind conditions, the terrain, low land prices and a small population
make it an ideal location for wind farms. It already produces more
wind-generated electricity in a year than all of California. And the
business is growing so fast that he struggles to define it by numbers.
By year's end, there'll be more than 1,500 turbines in Nolan County,
representing a $5 billion investment. In the multicounty Rolling
Plains region, there are already 2,000 operating turbines.
Add those operating further west, the Permian Basin region around
Midland and Odessa, and the entire area has more than 3,000 turbines
operating, producing about 6,000 megawatts of electricity — about
equal to the power produced by two to three nuclear power plants.
Growth potential
The growth potential is, well, electrifying.
New turbine towers are going up at a rate of three to four a day in
the Sweetwater area, Wortham says. "It depends on the (Texas) Public
Utility Commission, but the number could be 20,000 ultimately,"
Wortham says.
Pickens, who over the past two years has become the USA's biggest wind-
power booster, is quick to note that "there could be lots of
Sweetwaters out there," especially in the nation's midsection, where
winds are ideal for power generation.
Indeed, though Sweetwater is a windy place, plenty of locations
farther north in the Great Plains are even better suited to wind
farming. One is about 250 miles north of Sweetwater, near Pampa,
northeast of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. That's where Pickens is
building what would be the world's largest wind farm, four times
larger than the current titleholder near here. So far, he has spent $2
billion on the project, including a record purchase of nearly 700 wind
turbines this year from General Electric. He expects to spend up to
$10 billion on the project and to begin generating electricity in
2011.
Though Pickens doesn't own a single wind turbine in the Sweetwater
area, Wortham was eager to play host to the oil baron and the
reporters traveling with him. Sweetwater, he says, is proof that wind
power has much more potential than its many skeptics believe.
"People hear about the 8-foot-tall wind turbines at Logan airport in
Boston or the five turbines at Atlantic City and think 'interesting,'
" Wortham says. "But they don't see how we can get to the 300,000-
megawatt-production level" established by the Bush administration as a
national goal for 2030. "Once you come to Sweetwater, you see that it
can be done, and be done pretty easily, not only here, but … anywhere
there are prime wind conditions. None of this existed seven years ago.
Now, we produce enough electricity in this one county to power a large
city, and we do it cheaply and cleanly."
Getting lots more electricity with wind is only half of the Pickens
Plan. Increasing wind-power production by itself won't reduce U.S.
dependence on foreign oil because most of that oil is consumed as
gasoline.
The key, Pickens says, is that wind energy can be used as a substitute
for natural gas now burned to generate electricity. That, in turn,
will make far more natural gas available for use as a transportation
fuel. Pickens' plan is to produce enough wind power within 10 years to
divert 20% of the natural gas now used to fuel power plants for use in
cars and trucks. That's much more aggressive a growth plan for the
development of wind energy than envisioned by the Depart of Energy,
which doesn't expect the USA to be getting 20% of its total energy
needs from wind until at least 2030.
Pickens foresees as many as a third of the vehicles running on natural
gas within only a few years. Julius Pretterebner, director of the
Global Oil Group at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, says getting
15% to 20% of the USA's cars to run on natural gas — in some cases, in
mixtures with other fuels in dual-fuel vehicles — by 2020 would be an
outstanding achievement, and doing that will require federal support
to expand the necessary infrastructure.
Powering vehicles with compressed or liquefied natural gas, CNG or
LNG, has been Pickens' pet project since the late 1980s.Yet the
concept has been very slow to catch on.
Distribution is a major problem. CNG drivers can, like Pickens,
install inexpensive equipment to fill up at their homes. But with
fewer than 800 natural gas filling stations around the USA, drivers
can't count on being able to fill up wherever they go. So, for the
most part, CNG, or LNG, has remained limited to fleet operators, such
as local bus companies or big-city police departments.
And that's where David Friedman, research director in the vehicles
program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, says most natural-gas-
powered vehicles will continue to be operated because of the
distribution problem, the lack of vehicles made specifically to run on
CNG, and the cost of converting conventional vehicles to run on CNG.
"I honestly think (natural gas') role will be in medium- to heavy-duty
vehicles and fleets — and as a stepping stone to hydrogen fuel-cell-
powered vehicles in the future," Friedman says. Only one car, a
version of the Honda Civic, is available from the factory ready for
CNG fuel, he says, and only at a significant premium over the price of
a conventionally fueled version.
If you build it …
Pickens aims to shout down the skeptics by taking his case to the
people via his TV ad campaign. If the nation is to break its addiction
to foreign oil, a network of CNG stations could be built along
interstates and in major cities for a relatively small investment, he
says. Some gasoline retailers have told him they would add CNG pumps
to their stations once they're certain there'll be enough vehicles
capable of running on natural gas to justify costs.
Washington, Pickens adds, can encourage the move to natural-gas-
powered vehicles by providing modest economic incentives for fuel
retailers to invest in CNG pumps at their stations, for automakers to
build CNG-powered cars and for individuals to convert their existing
vehicles to CNG use. And it should continue to provide tax incentives
for another 10 years to encourage wind energy's rapid development as
part of an overall plan to wean the nation from foreign oil, he says.
"It certainly would be cheaper than what they're doing already for
nuclear," Pickens adds. But he's also in favor of developing more
nuclear energy, and every form of alternative energy to reduce oil
imports. "Try everything. Do everything. Nuclear. Biomass. Coal.
Solar. You name it. I support them all," he says. "But there's only
one energy source that can dramatically reduce the amount of oil we
have to import each year, and that's (natural) gas."
Pickens is an outspoken believer in the so-called peak oil theory that
holds that maximum world production has peaked at about 85 million
barrels a day — vs. current demand of about 86 million barrels a day —
and will never rise much above that even with lots of new drilling and
production.
"Even people who continue driving gasoline-powered cars and trucks
will benefit," he says.
Critics could easily accuse Pickens of advocating a major new public
policy initiative that will line his own pockets. He is, after all, a
big player in both the wind power and natural gas businesses. Pickens
says that while his hedge fund will earn money for its investors,
earning more money personally is meaningless: "I'm 80 years old and
have $4 billion. I don't need any more money."
He's more concerned that his efforts to make reducing foreign oil
dependency the No. 1 issue on the national agenda will be dismissed by
the public and, therefore, by Washington. So he says he's carefully
steering his plan clear of partisan bickering.
He's already enlisted an unlikely supporter: the Sierra Club. "I will
be in the front row of the chorus cheering" him on, says Carl Pope,
its executive director, who flew with Pickens to Sweetwater.
Pope sees wind and solar energy as inexpensive sources of power that,
along with other non-carbon forms, can be pooled to greatly reduce the
need for oil- and coal-fired electric-generating plants.
"When it's cloudy in Dallas and the wind's not blowing in Sweetwater,
but the sun's blazing in the (Western) deserts, solar energy can run
all those air conditioners in Dallas. When it's windy in Sweetwater
and cloudy in the desert, wind energy from Sweetwater can heat homes
in Chicago.
"Mr. Pickens and I probably don't see eye-to-eye on some other
matters," Pope concedes. "But he's right on this one."
Setting goals, clearing roadblocks
Washington's role, Pope said, should be in setting the goal and
clearing roadblocks such as the patchwork of state, regional and
federal regulations that block the creation of a true national grid
that can shift electricity from anywhere in the country to anywhere
that it's needed.
Getting support from groups and people not ordinarily aligned with his
conservative political views is important to Pickens. A lifelong
Republican, he'll vote for McCain. But he's not involved with McCain's
campaign, largely to keep his plan from being dismissed as mere
campaign rhetoric.
"This has to be a bipartisan effort," says the man who four years ago
offered $1 million to anyone who could disprove the charges made
against Democrat nomine Sen. John Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth.
"This is not about Republicans vs. Democrats," Pickens says. "This is
about saving our country from the ruination of spending $700 billion a
year on oil imports. Ninety days after the oil hits our shores, it's
all burned up, and we've got nothing to show for it. But they (foreign
oil producers) still have our money. It's killing our economy."
The Trucker
> On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:51:31 -0700 (PDT), Don Tiberone
> <s_kn...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
>>Today, Pickens will take the wraps off what he's calling the Pickens
>>Plan for cutting the USA's demand for foreign oil by more than a third
>>in less than a decade. To promote it, he is bankrolling what his aides
>>say will be the biggest public policy ad campaign ever. The website,
>>www.pickensplan.com, goes live today.
>
>
> Gee all he has to do is dust off Carter's plans that Reagan set aside.
Not one peep about "drill".
--
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers
of society but the people themselves; and
if we think them not enlightened enough to
exercise their control with a wholesome
discretion, the remedy is not to take it from
them, but to inform their discretion by
education." - Thomas Jefferson
http://GreaterVoice.org/extend
FrediFizzx
more solar also. And I do believe it is fairly easy to convert
vehicles to nat gas. so he is right about that. We definitely need a
massive infrastructure project to do wind and solar for electric
generation and use nat gas for more vehicles. Back off the ethanol
crap for now. We could hopefully reduce the amount of coal for power
generation also if we do both. Save it for conversion to jet fuel and
help save the air a bit.
Fred
"Don Tiberone" <s_kn...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:7d1d632e-7bd8-4bab...@i76g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
Rich Travsky
>
> On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:04:11 -0700, retrogrouch wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:51:31 -0700 (PDT), Don Tiberone
> > <s_kn...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> >
> >>Today, Pickens will take the wraps off what he's calling the Pickens
> >>Plan for cutting the USA's demand for foreign oil by more than a third
> >>in less than a decade. To promote it, he is bankrolling what his aides
> >>say will be the biggest public policy ad campaign ever. The website,
> >>www.pickensplan.com, goes live today.
> >
> >
> > Gee all he has to do is dust off Carter's plans that Reagan set aside.
>
> Not one peep about "drill".
Because it's about alternative sources of energy??????
RT
4114 Dead
wrote:
>On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:04:11 -0700, retrogrouch wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 06:51:31 -0700 (PDT), Don Tiberone
>> <s_kn...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Today, Pickens will take the wraps off what he's calling the Pickens
>>>Plan for cutting the USA's demand for foreign oil by more than a third
>>>in less than a decade. To promote it, he is bankrolling what his aides
>>>say will be the biggest public policy ad campaign ever. The website,
>>>www.pickensplan.com, goes live today.
>>
>>
>> Gee all he has to do is dust off Carter's plans that Reagan set aside.
>
>Not one peep about "drill".
Actually, he does go into that. I saw an extended interview with him
on BBC. He points out that most drilling is STILL not worth the
effort, even at $200 a barrel, and like most people who have seen the
evidence, he's concerned about climate change brought on by CO2
emissions. He wants to dump billions into sequestering, too.
But he's the ultimate Texas oilman, and HE doesn't think more drilling
is any kind of answer.
--
What do you call a Republican with a conscience?
An ex-Republican.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8827 (From Yang, AthD (h.c)
"Prosperity and peace are in the balance," -- Putsch, not admitting that he's against both
Putsch: leading America to asymetric warfare since 2001
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