The Pickens Plan is a new wind power generation plan being rolled out by Texas Oil Investor, T. Boone Pickens. Pickens claims that his plan if implemented as planned will reduce the U.S.’s demand for imported oil by 1/3 in the next 10 years.
Mr. Pickens chose this period of time during 2008 while a new U.S. President is being elected to raise awareness of this extremely important national issue. His message is clear: let’s start seriously talking about alternative fuels now before our U.S. economy is crushed by our dependence on foreign oil.
According to Pickens, the next U.S. President will have this issue to deal with front and center and neither candidate is even talking about the U.S. dependency on foreign oil. The Pickens Plan, which includes a significant advertising campaign slated for the fall of 2008 will raise the issue and get people really talking about wind power alternatives.
What Is The Pickens Plan?
According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the central U.S. is the richest location in the world for wind energy. Essentially the Pickens Plan calls for a national project to develop a wind turbine generation and distribution system to take advantage of the incredible resource within the heartland of the U.S. Furthermore, the Pickens Plan calls for increased and continued use of natural gas as the U.S. has found increasing reserves of natural gas within its boundaries. A major way to utilize natural gas in the U.S. is to drive more natural gas vehicles like the 2008 Honda GX.
What Is Wind Energy?
Wind energy is electricity generated from a giant wind electric turbine turning in the blowing wind. Essentially, this type of energy is free once the wind turbines are made and installed. Wind energy is a completely renewable energy source that causes absolutely no harm to the environment. And according to a recent 2008 U.S. Department of Energy study, called: 20% Wind Energy by 2030, if properly utilized, wind power could produce about 20% of the U.S.’s electricity by the year 2030.
What Does A National Wind Energy Plan Mean For The US?
In talking about what the Pickens Plan means to the U.S., I have to include references to the 2008 20% Wind Energy by 2030 Dept of Energy report as well. This report presents a tremendous amount of information about the benefits that they U.S. would see if the Pickens Plan were fully realized, and even expanded upon.
According to Pickens and the DOE report, if we implement this plan to its fullest, the impacts on the U.S. and the world could be:
- A reduction of 1/5 to 1/3 of our dependency of foreign oil translating into an annual U.S. savings of approximately $300,000,000.
- A source of approximately 500,000 jobs that are either directly in the wind energy industry, or they are jobs that support those workers in the industry.
- Increased state and local property tax revenues
- Increased annual payments to rural private landowners where turbines are installed.
- A perfect energy solution which does not require a disruption to the historical uses of the land – farming.
- Stablize our nation’s energy game plan with a stable renewable energy supply, which in turn would help reduce our use of other types of fossil fuel resources.
- Reduce the U.S. impact on greenhouse gas buildup and global warming by reducing the need for fossil fuel consumption in power generation.
A national wind power generation system would take a tremendous amount of effort and money. The size of this project is similar to that of the national interstate system that President Eisenhower commissioned when he was President in response to the uprising cold war. As Pickens see it, our dependency in foreign is equally if not even more threatening to the U.S.’s national security than the cold war and that there is no time to waste to get started.
Article by Dale Stouffer. Dale has a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning from the University of California, Davis. This Article is designed to be of general interest and should not be considered legal advice. The specific information discussed may not apply to you. Before acting on any matter contained herein, you should consult with your personal legal adviser.
