A Man Named Pickens Brilliant Vision for America

When I was a kid living in Texas, a continual aggravation of mine was people asking me if I was related to billionaire T. Boone Pickens.  "No," I said, my last name is "Picken, not Pickens."  Yet, virtually anything with my name on it in that state would inevitably read 'Scott Pickens.'  It got to the point where I would spell it for people, 'P-I-C-K-E-N-NO-S.'

Texans infatuation with T. Boone Pickens was no mystery.  He came to embody the ideal of the 'Texas oilman.'  Smart, rich, a risk-taker and a good businessman, yet also folksy and a very down home Texan (which conveniently overlooked the fact he was born in Oklahoma).  A larger-than-life figure to Texans much the way Idahoans saw J.R. Simplot.

T. Boone Pickens is in his 80's now, still rich beyond comprehension, but he's leaving oil behind in favor of a new vision.  Wind power.  Pickens is reportedly investing tens of millions of dollars in what would be the world's largest wind farm.  He calls the U.S. the "Saudi Arabia of wind" and believes it is the key to America's energy and economic future.  There may be a philanthropic side to Pickens investment, but the man who never let a dry hole get him down certainly must also see huge potential profit in wind power.

Pickens has one caveat however.  He believes for the U.S. to capture to true potential of wind, this captain of free enterprise says the government needs to get involved.  Or as another politician put it, we as a nation have to get off being 'stuck in stupid' when it comes to energy policy. 

The Texas oilman is even going so far as to purchase airtime on television stations to push 'The Pickens Plan.'  You can look at his plan by logging onto http://www.pickensplan.com/

On the front page of the website, T. Boone spells it out as obviously as an oil gusher.  "America is in a hole and it's getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war.  I've been an oil man all my life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of. But if we create a new renewable energy network, we can break our addiction to foreign oil."  He goes on from there to lay out his plan and the reasons for it, and he makes some very compelling arguments.

Pickens ditching oil for wind is a notable change of heart.  Pickens pushing for government involvement when it comes to energy is a real wake-up call to all of us.

And it leaves me pondering this question.  When it comes to the future of energy in America, who's got it right?  The politicians in Washington being lobbied by oil companies who push for more domestic oil exploration and drilling, or a brilliant billionaire oilman named T. Boone Pickens who says it is time to go in a new direction?

Comments

[John See]

If you took the time to do a little research, you'd learn that of Mr. Pickens personal real estate realm of over 60,000 acres, there will be how many wind machines on his Property??? the answer you might ask? ZERO, ZILCH, NOT ONE
How "brilliant" and selfless is this Billionaire that he's not willing to deface his own property with even ONE TOKEN wind machine??
You might want to visit: www.wind-watch.org to become somewhat more educated before you "step in it" again

[John See]

If you took the time to do a little research, you'd learn that of Mr. Pickens personal real estate realm of over 60,000 acres, there will be how many wind machines on his Property??? the answer you might ask? ZERO, ZILCH, NOT ONE
How "brilliant" and selfless is this Billionaire that he's not willing to deface his own property with even ONE TOKEN wind machine??
You might want to visit: www.wind-watch.org to become somewhat more educated before you "step in it" again

[John See]

If you took the time to do a little research, you'd learn that of Mr. Pickens personal real estate realm of over 60,000 acres, there will be how many wind machines on his Property??? the answer you might ask? ZERO, ZILCH, NOT ONE
How "brilliant" and selfless is this Billionaire that he's not willing to deface his own property with even ONE TOKEN wind machine??
You might want to visit: www.wind-watch.org to become somewhat more educated before you "step in it" again

[The REAL John Doe]

Talk about stepping in it-did you have to post that lame response 3 times? 3 times? 3 times? Seriously though, "stepping in it" is a good point. This country is so full of crap-literally and figuratively-why aren't we using poop more for fuel? I thought that was a possibility a while back. Or how about Senior Citizens!?! I recently told my 81 year-old Mom that Seniors are this country's most valuable asset. So lets make fuel out of them too! I know it's cruel and not humane by any stretch of the imagination. But it's an idea. Something the Republicans haven't had yet. Even a ridiculous one would be a start.