T. Boone Pickens, Jr. has seen the light; namely the blue flame of natural gas and the sun shining off the blades of wind turbines. It wasn't always this way; you see, Pickens was born into an oil family, and later built his fortune via oil and the takeover of other oil companies. Pickens spent many years steamrolling his rivals, many of whom were environmentalists. He spent obscene amounts of money supporting Republican candidates, and even gave the maximum $250,000 to help get good 'ol fellow oil man George W. Bush back into office for another four years. So, with a track record like that, why has Pickens renounced his Republican ties and embraced the mantra of those environmentalists he used to bury? One must first examine the tenets of his energy initiative to fully understand his motive.
I first learned of his new energy initiative, which he has aptly named "The Pickens Plan", via a television commercial that he produced. Pickens states very clearly that he thinks the cost of oil (and not just in terms of dollars) is detrimental to our nation. He proposes that we utilize the strong winds of the Midwestern States (which he has dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of wind power") by building the world's largest windmill farm to help produce 20% of the nation's power (as opposed to the current 1%). He does acknowledge that it would take more than 1 trillion dollars in investments to make this a reality, but he states that "it's a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it's a bargain." With wind power easing our dependence on foreign oil somewhat, Pickens then proposes that we divert the natural gas that currently accounts for 22% of our nation's energy supply and use it to fuel natural gas powered vehicles. That way, says Pickens, we'll reduce our dependence on foreign oil by one-third.
Boone told the Associated Press, "I'm doing it for America", and not for personal gain. Hey---just look at the fact that Boone plans to spend $58 million of his estimated $3 billion net worth on an advertising campaign for his plan. Doesn't that give credence to his claim of altruism? In addition to his out-of-pocket expenses for his advertising campaign, he will also drop a pretty penny on all the windmills he vows to put up. In fact, Boone's company, Mesa Power, has just placed an order in May 2008 to purchase 667 windmills from General Electric. That is a very promising development that shows that Pickens plans to put his money where his mouth is. However, the flow of money is not just coming out of his deep pockets---he expects a large return from the natural gas angle of his plan. You see, Pickens' company Clean Energy Fuels, Inc. "owns and operates natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border." Thus, if there's more natural gas powered vehicles on the road, then they'll need stations to fuel up at---Pickens-owned stations.
But hey, I don't necessarily begrudge a man for trying to turn a profit---especially on an idea that may prove to be beneficial to the energy health of our country. Pickens has been a self-serving man his whole life, but the difference this time is that he is also trying to do something beneficial for more than just his cronies and shareholders. There are many obstacles in his way, many of whom are oil companies that he used to rub elbows with. Of course there's also politicians whose support he'll need, and I'm not sure he'll have enough dollars to grease all of their palms. In any case, his large public profile and his equally large bankroll gives the renewable energy crowd some more hope for a cleaner, greener future.
Tune in next time for an examination of our nation's natural gas reserves and how it may impact The Pickens Plan.
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