digg

Join DiggAbout

The Digg Crew wants to hear your thoughts!
Please take our short survey about Digg and potential feature ideas.

PickensPlan

pickensplan.com — This is a great plan to reduce foreign oil purchases substantially in less than 5 years. It is about using wind and solar to replace natural gas used in power generation and using that natural gas in our automobiles.

show profanity settings
expand all
  • canewediggit, on 07/08/2008, -0/+14saw him on cnbc this morning laying the plan out. it may not be perfect, but i really like it. i've never cared who came up with the solution, be it oil barons like boone, exxon mobil, or greenpeace. whatever gets us to stop sending billions offshore every year and preserves the environment is good with me.

    and even he admitted that more enabling of oil drilling is pointless since by the time we would realize the benefits, we could be farther along with reducing our oil dependency if we spent those resources planning for the future.
  • DireWolf, on 07/08/2008, -0/+11It's about time someone take a leadership role in reducing our addiction on foreign oil.
  • aaronweigel, on 07/08/2008, -0/+11I work for TradeWind Energy, and we're excited about Mr. Pickens' campaign to improve awareness about wind energy. Wind power is ready for primetime!
    • brad3378, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Jim Cramer from CNBC's Mad Money has been extremely bullish on investing in wind power and talks about it often. He especially likes the low cost (4 to 6 centers per kilowatt hour)

      Supposedly, 2008 is the year of Natural Gas, and 2009 will be the year of Wind Power.
      • aaronweigel, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0I agree, however for 2009 to be the year of wind, we need the Production Tax Credit (PTC) renewed. Let your representative know you support it.
  • astroslut, on 07/08/2008, -0/+8Putting his money where his mouth is. I think it's a great plan. More wind, more solar, less money going overseas. A great short term plan that can actually be done. Start here, and continue to plan for the future. I like that it's a real solution, not just talk and hope for some magical solution that doesn't exist.
  • keishax, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4Wind Power has the lowest cost and highest ROI than nuclear or coal. The return is realized faster than any other energy source. The other thing I like about his plan is that he is pushing natural gas as a fuel source for cars. Honda is trying to corner the market on hydrogen and natural gas cars for consumers. They are doing a test on their new Clarity vehicle which runs on hydrogen gas. In addition they have launched a natural gas vehicle in California that enables consumers to fill up in their own garage.
  • bunghole999, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3And of course, we must not forget industrial hemp: http://www.hemp4fuel.com
  • AtHomeBoy2000, on 07/08/2008, -0/+5He began running ads on MSNBC and CNN today
    • brad3378, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1I'd like to add that he paid for these advertisements out of his own pocket.
  • jforeman83, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3Awesome ad. This is something we can all get behind on both sides of the aisle. Hell yeah T. Boone!
  • MattFromSeattle, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Very cool site, I hope this gains some traction.

    On a side note - one of my best friends helped build the site.
  • angryfirelord, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Excellent video! If it gets accepted, it could really make a big impact.

    The only problem I see is that the location of the wind is also in the same area as Tornado Alley. That could be an issue if the windmills get damaged and have to be constantly repaired, but it's still a good plan. I'm sure some more clean power can be produced with solar in the Arizona desert.
  • avengingturnip, on 07/09/2008, -0/+5How much does he plan on making from these wind farms?
    • aaronweigel, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0Wind farms can be quite lucrative, but initial investment is incredibly high. More than likely, his cut will be a percentage of revenue, which if you bet on energy prices going up, you stand to make a lot of money. Given the market on acquiring turbines, there is a lot of demand and the supply pipeline is spoken for up until 2010 (partly because of the 667 turbines that Pickens ordered for his 4 GigaWatt farm. It's not just him making money, though. Landowner leases are quite generous, hundreds of workers are needed for construction and services, and those workers have to eat somewhere and stay somewhere, so the overall impact locally is impressive.
    • GigEmAggies06, on 07/14/2008, -1/+1That is a very good question. Boone Pickens is crazy rich already so hopefully he is doing this more out of a philanthropic interest, but you never know.
  • drake77, on 07/10/2008, -0/+3I thought we (the U.S.) imported a lot of natural gas already? How would this be different from importing oil?
  • Rainemaker, on 07/10/2008, -1/+3Hard to argue with his assessment of the problem.
  • graymerica, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1This guy is one of the biggest investors in american history and He is making a great point. If we spend money here in america, then it creates american jobs and the money can be spent on goods and services from other americans.

    If you buy oil the money goes to the middle east, Venezuela and Canada and is spent by their citizens or the dictators who run the countries.

    In addition, there is a real opportunity for american companies to become the world leader in alternative energy technology instead of just becoming consumers of it later on.

    I am sure pickens is primed to make a lot of money from wind energy, but if it can help us break our dependence on foreign oil and keep money in the US, I am all for it.
    • ForestRangerBen, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Didn't realize Canada was a dictatorship?
  • sdenterprise, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1I believe that reducing the US dependence on international (or outside) oil could have a massive knock on effect and could even improve other economies by reducing fuel costs across the world.

    wind energy has to play a part in the mix both at a local level as well as at a regional, national and international level... but I would also like to see the reduction in energy use too!

    As Pickens points out the US use a huge proportion of the barrels produced across the globe each day (25%), so what has happened that there is such a huge need per head for fuel?

    Also, with the new super powers China and India steaming towards massive CO2 emissions the price of importing oil from around the globe will increase at an alarming rate.. this will put the 700 billion dollar estimate even higher... so the US purse needs to invest in alternatives to oil and look at wind, solar and hydro (as well as others) faster than any other nation in the globe.

    The US could have amazing benefits from producing 20% of its power from wind turbines, but I feel that it could be even greater that 20%... by reducing consumption and looking at micro, small scale and larger wind farm projects as a mix... oil dependence would reduce hugely and in a short space of time if the leadership is there...
  • allowners, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1Electric cars are viable today. They have a long enough range for any reasonable commute. Longer trips (vacations, etc.) should use rail service. You could extend the range of electric cars by having standardized battery packs that could be swapped out at "recharging stations." A good portion of the energy to charge these battery packs could come for solar and wind. The oil industry and people duped into driving the most insanely inefficient gasoline vehicles by industry PR are the only thing preventing progress. Endless war is both a side effect and a tool of coercion to maintain this status quo.

    It's not complicated, turn off the TV, lose the grandiose PR delusion of freedom presented as driving some gas wasting vehicle over mountains. The reality is opposite this presentation, these vehicles have almost destroyed the US. Think for yourself, think logically. It isn't complicated, don't let your lizard mind do the driving, or the master lizards will do your "thinking" for you, and you will never understand what went so wrong.
  • ForestRangerBen, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1I love how everyone is playing the NIMBY card here, but when it gets shoved in someone elses back yard its a ***** god send
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.