The Pickens Plan

Not sure who T. Boone Pickens is? Well, he just may be to alternative energy what Al Gore is to global warming. There's a commercial making the rounds on cable news stations for for the Pickens Plan. It's an epic 60 seconds narrated by Pickens replete with horrifying stats, images of burying oil fields, the Iraq war, and then windmills, slick solar panels, and the green grass and bright blue skies of the future. So just who is T. Boone Pickens, and what's with this Pickens Plan? Please join me on what will surely be a fascinating adventure into the world of old billionaires and their quest for more billions.

Whoa, T-Bone has a ton of money! Nearly $3 Billion in fact, which makes him the 117th richest person in America! Ah, he started out in oil (hence his energy knowledge and concern), but not in exploration--he was in acquisitions. Yawn, I'm already bored. Nowadays, he's a hedge fund manager for BP Capital Management. Oh, he is a Republican and gave millions to the Swift Boat Vets and W. He lives in Texas and is on his third wife (way to go T-Bone!) And for an 80 year old, he's keeping pretty busy which leads us to the Pickens Plan.

In a nutshell, the Pickens Plan would like to to replace the 22% of electricity generated by natural gas with wind power. The natural gas could then be used to power cars. Cars would then need to be outfitted to handle natural gas, which would cost around $2000 a pop. Not so bad if gas is going for $10 a gallon as many predict. Looking more closely at the plan, T-Bone makes a convincing argument for wind power and natural gas. Investing in wind power is like investing in rural America, as it would bring industry to what is basically a ghost town (or will be when all the car plants close down.) And natural gas has low emissions and costs about a $1 a gallon--hell yeah. To get things going, all T-Bone asks is that you spread the word, so when the new president takes office next year there will be enough people involved to make this Pickens Plan a reality. Ok, so what the hell is the catch? Why does T-Bone have to spend his own hard earned cash on a commercial, sleek website, and PR to get people sold on the idea?

For these answers, I turned to Geoff Styles at Enegry Outlook. Switching to wind power can't happen overnight, and it's pretty unreliable to support the entire grid. Plus, there are ton of cars out there--you gonna tell that old redneck that his souped up Jeep Cherokee on tractor wheels needs to go get outfitted for natural gas? He doesn't even touch on what to do with the coal fired power plants. And there is a whole host of other problems: infrastructure and systems, overnight energy capabilities, natural gas refineries, and the cynics who think this is T-Bone's last chance to make some extra billions on wind, which he invests a chunk of his fortune in. That would be me.

So in conclusion, yes, we need a plan(s) to solve our American energy crisis, but will one plan fit all? Definitely not. Are there takeaways from the Picken's plan--sure! Will I join Push.PickensPlan.com, the site's social networking community, like a trained monkey--nope. This post is about as much as I will do. Your welcome.