Texas Oilman: Clear Path For Wind Power
T. Boone Pickens Makes Request Of Congress To Boost Use Of Wind, Natural Gas
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Using Wind To Make Electricity
The U.S. currently gets one percent of its electricity from wind. By 2030, it could be up to 20 percent. Billionaire T. Boone Pickens says we can do better that. Daniel Sieberg reports.
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The Pickens Plan
"Only On The Web": Katie Couric speaks with energy investor T. Boone Pickens Jr. about his plan to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil through the development of alternative energy sources.
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Can Wind Aid Energy Crisis?
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens wants to lower U.S. dependence on foreign oil with a plan that implements wind power. Katie Couric reports on Pickens' energy-swapping proposal.
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T. Boone Pickens testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 22,2008, before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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Pickens has been on a $58 million publicity tour to promote his plan to erect wind turbines in the Midwest to generate electricity, replacing the 22 percent of U.S. power produced from natural gas. The freed up natural gas then could be used for transportation.
Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Pickens said the government should begin building transmission lines for wind-generated power or provide the right of way on private land and extend tax credits so the private sector can build the lines.
"If the government wanted to build a grid, I mean, do it," he said. "But if they don't want to do it, I think the money is there to do it private, and so it's kind of like either do it or get out of the way, but give us the corridors to put it in and it'll be done. You could do this on a very, very fast track if you wanted."
Pickens suggested that Congress follow the lead of former President Eisenhower, who declared an emergency to build the interstate highway system in the 1950s and 1960s.
He warned that oil could cost $300 a barrel in 10 years as supplies drop, if the nation continues to "drift" on energy policy.
Pickens has leased hundreds of thousands of acres for a giant wind farm in West Texas, where he plans to erect 2,700 turbines and produce energy for urban areas such as Dallas and Fort Worth. He has run into some opposition from West Texas landowners who are unhappy with his efforts to obtain rights of way to build the wind farm and a pipeline for a separate water project.
Specifically, Pickens asked Congress to extend a 2005 law intended to speed up the creation of energy corridors, and to give him control over any transmission lines he builds for wind-generated power. All electric transmission lines are now regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Pickens also called for a 10-year extension of a tax credit for energy producers. He estimated it would cost taxpayers $15 billion a year in production tax credits for 200,000 megawatts of wind power.
"When you look at $700 billion dollars going out of country every year for purchase of oil, $15 billion is somewhat insignificant," he said.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., called Pickens' plan bold and said he hoped Pickens' testimony would "infect people in a position in Washington to do something about it."
But the oilman's plan raised questions with Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who asked if it would hurt the chemical industry, which relies on natural gas as raw material. He said the industry probably won't like seeing natural gas costs increase.
Pickens estimated it would cost about $500 billion to increase wind energy production from the 4,000 megawatts to be generated at his Texas wind farm to 200,000 megawatts, the amount needed to power 20 percent of U.S. energy needs. Transmission lines and the tax credit would add another $15 billion.
At that level, he said, "You're approaching about one year's supply of oil that you're buying. But don't get the idea that replaces that oil, it doesn't. It will only replace 38 percent."
In addition to the hearing, Pickens also met privately Tuesday with Democratic and Republican members of Congress as well as Texas senators.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 68 Commentshttp://money.cnn.com/2007/02/01/news/companies/exxon/index.htm
Now he wishes to monopolize wind power by riding and whipping the energy scare to ignore good ecological decisions in windmill placement by putting these devices along the major bird migratory paths. After all these migratory birds do navigate the prevailing paths of the wind.
Today there is just as much oil available as there was 4 years ago.
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Some people want America to drift. For example, $300 a barrel would delight Bush oil buddies.
Could that explain the lethargy Bush has shown about doing something to end national dependence on oil for the past seven years?
The more we pay at the gas pump, the more Bush parties.
Interestingly enough, while Bush was Texas governor, i he was a strong proponent of wind power.
But then he fell into addiction on oil money, and was never the same again. An unrecovered petroholic, Bush (and father) were known to launch wars over oil-- the last war all at our expense.
Been around 40 years and still can''t efficiently power anything for a reasonable price.
$40 million to 30 or 40 people? Get a life, try 30 or 40 million americans profiting from oil thru their 401 K''s and other investments.
Look''s like now we''ll be hearing all the liberals cry because the price of oil is falling.
That said, he is imploring the country to move forward one way or the other. We''ve gone backwards in the last 7 years. As much of an effort and resources that are put into wind should also be applied to solar. Solar is viable but needs a kick in the a$$ to get the technology within reasonable cost.
It''s going to take an energy policy that says, we are absolutely going to do this, who''s going to get us there first? Science & technology needs to be challenged to produce better cost efficient solar. The carrot has not been there because the oilmen have been belly up to the table eating everything in sight with the blessing of the white house and both houses of congress. That has left little incentive for real progress in solar.
You see with solar, more homes and business could be OFF the grid. Ahh, but no ONE can profit and control that power source.
Alas, I, too, worry about the fate of migratory birds being shredded in windmills.
(The correct answer is...solar.)
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Posted by anon00 at 05:20 AM : Jul 23, 2008
Very disingenious bull spit! How much damned ICE do you find in TEXAS!!!!???
(The correct answer is...solar.)
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Posted by anon00 at 05:20 AM : Jul 23, 2008
Very disingenious bull spit! How much damned ICE do you find in TEXAS!!!!???
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Posted by freckster at 07:19 AM : Jul 23, 2008
Sometime study up on the path of the migratory birds...it isn''t through West Texas where there are no trees and little water! They fly across Central Texas!
Posted by anon00 at 05:20 AM : Jul 23, 2008
The more correct answer is nuclear, coal, natural gas, oil, hydrogen fuel cells, solar.....and somewhere WAY down on the list.....like after thousands of gerbils on a wheel, is wind.
As an electrical engineer, I can tell you that wind power is no where near feasable for large scale use.
Whoever this Pickens guy is, he needs to go back to oil.....cause he doesn''t know jacksh*t about ''wind'' power.
Perhaps a natural gas / electric hybrid vehicle could be a possible solution.
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Posted by LibH8er at 08:09 AM : Jul 23, 2008
How strange...a friend of mine built a wind turbine out of an old windmill on his place 15 years ago...has plenty of electricity, and didn''t have to pay the elec company $4,000 to bring the line up the mountain, and no electric bill in 15 years.
And this friend didn''t even graduate high school. He dropped out, went to Germany and studied to be a Volkswagen mechanic! LMAO!
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Posted by LibH8er at 08:09 AM : Jul 23, 2008
How strange...a friend of mine built a wind turbine out of an old windmill on his place 15 years ago...has plenty of electricity, and didn''t have to pay the elec company $4,000 to bring the line up the mountain, and no electric bill in 15 years.
And this friend didn''t even graduate high school. He dropped out, went to Germany and studied to be a Volkswagen mechanic! LMAO!
The Metro Bus system in Portland Oregon has been running on Natural Gas for over 15+ years. Its a great IDEA T. Boone Pickens and this needs to be put on the FAST TRACK.
Posted by yankeerebel7 at 08:58 AM : Jul 23, 2008
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Of course, T. Boone is also counting on a hefty profit for himself. This guy is a billionaire, he didn''t get that way by being nice, kind or polite to his fellow humans.
This is the same guy who has been buying water rights. His view is that good water will become so essential in the future that we will all have to pay top $$ for it, and we will have to buy it from him.
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Following excerpt copied from:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/24410-t-boone-pickens-invests-in-water-should-you
"Pickens%u2019 new company, Mesa Water, has been buying up ground water rights in Roberts County, Texas - 200,000 acres in all. He says that over a 30-year period, he expects to make more than $1 billion on his investment of $75 million...Pickens wants to take the water from the Ogallala Aquifer and pump about 200,000 acre feet of groundwater annually to El Paso, Lubbock, San Antonio, or Dallas-Fort Worth - for a price, of course."
Better believe he is going to do the same with wind also. Probably has the land already. And with the Go Green people out there and their willingness to "go green" he is set up to make the really big $$$.
The Democrat block it because their being "paid" to block it by one of the historical special interest groups, Environmentalists.
The Enviro''''s pay for their election campaigns every two years and in return for the "dirty influence money" the Democrat vote NO to "domestic development of our natural resources".
These liberal fascists that now control our Congress have no plans to bring relief to Americans, that would upset their "steady flow of money payments" from the environmentalists. Gas prices have almost doubled since the Democrats took over Congress...................................real sad and real true.
My fellow Americans don''''t HOPE for cheaper energy prices...............................
VOTE for cheaper energy prices...........................VOTE REPUBLICAN.!!
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While I agree that the enviros are holding much of this back. Many/most are the same that also say "go green", but are not willing to commit to that statement. Just look at the opposition in the NE where the govt. was ready to set up wind energy in the NE, but the Kennedy''s opposed it and all the plans and work went down the drain.
Why did the Kennedy''s oppose the turbines, because they were not asthetically appealing to the area. Please give America a break. Either we need to be pleasing to the eye of all or have cheap energy for all, it is evident that both won''t exist together. If they want energy in the NE then they should have to pay premium price to send it there.
It is way too costly to ship energy from the plains and deserts all around the country so the few can have beauty in the far reaches of the nation.
It can work on a small scale. But on a large (city) type scale, it is horribly inefficient. Not only that, but the utility company has to be able to generate X number of megawatts REGARDLESS of whether there is supplemental energy on the grid or not.
The utility company doesn''t care because they have to be ready to supply power to the town/city/hamlet whatever if the alternate source goes away.
So what are you saving? Nothing. If the town is willing to go dark, then I''d say you have a case.....short of that, WIND POWER is a lot of hot air. :)
George Bush''s house in Crawford is geothermal. They also capture/treat and reuse waste water. They also use rain water for irrigation. Not bad for a country boy.
And he doesn''t even need to buy ''carbon credits'' from ALGore! LOL
Domestic drilling can only diminish gas prices if that supply were guaranteed for domestic use alone. This appears to be the underlying assumption of the current congressional push for expanded domestic drilling. And it is laughable. Contracts for drilling in Alaska and off our coasts will likely go to US-based firms, like Exxon or Conoco, which are also transnational corporations, and thus, in no way compelled to restrict retail to the US market. If expanded domestic drilling succeeds in lowering our gas prices -- even marginally -- five years from now, while gas prices abroad remain robust, we all know well where Exxon will shop its Alaskan crude.
This call to expand domestic drilling is again the temptation to delay the inevitable: the transition to renewable energy and sustainable lifestyles. Oil is ecologically condemned, but also economically condemned, for it is a limited resource: its inevitable destiny is to become more expensive%u2014and then run out. Accordingly, those nations that best prepare themselves for a post-petroleum world will be best positioned economically for the future.
And now, as the age of oil finally signals its inevitable demise, our president and his allies in Washington announce that their grand response is %u2026 to drill for more oil. Congress and the president are of course reacting to public hysteria from rising prices at the pump. But expanding domestic drilling is an inane proposal. Actually, it is reckless and tragic.
Until this week, Washington has largely chosen to ignore the real reason behind the dramatic rise in oil prices. Congress ripped Wall Street speculators for driving up the price of a barrel, but economists have long agreed that the major culprit is increasing demand in China, India and the developing world. Congress now appears to have realized that global demand is the problem; however, this is a problem that cannot be drilled away. Any increase in global oil supply is destined to be quickly outpaced by skyrocketing energy demands.
(cont)
By Firmin DeBrabander
21/07/08 "ICH" -- - At one point in his masterful People%u2019s History of the United States, Howard Zinn reflects upon the unspeakable carnage wrought by the Conquistadors in South and Central America, all in the pursuit of gold, and wonders at how those obscene riches sustained imperial greatness%u2026 for barely a hundred years. All that bloodletting, enslavement, massacres -- genocide in places -- for a temporary wealth that quickly vanished on the stage of history.
It reminds me of our current oil craze: in one century we have plundered billions of years of stored hydrocarbons, and what do we have to show for it? Fleeting prosperity%u2014one that is hardly shared by all%u2014a highly volatile Middle East, and awesome ecological devastation that will require centuries of recovery.
(cont)
He''s trying desparatly to be one of these oligarchs that''s going to run the world through hedge funds.
Hedge funds should be illegal, they add no production to the economy, they use collaterized debt from mortgages to do their "buyouts".
What the hell is a "buy out" anyways and what''s a "buyout" industry. It''s stupid folks.
Go alternative but do not let this clown profit one iota from it. How dare he try and make me and my family into a bunch of serfs!
How dare he!!!!
Give the energy companies the rights to own the wind and the sun.
They will be all in favor of anything that lines their pockets.
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Posted by balto_babs ....
LOL.....
thats because thats where oil from Iran, and other nations, get washed, repackaged and resold.
if Canada indeed had that much oil, SHRUB wouold have found a way to occupy it.
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Posted by six-six-seis at 10:52 AM : Jul
Hey ''six-six-seis'' Your ignorance is showing !!
Here are the stats on our top 6 sources in thousands of barrels PER DAY for May 2008 only--
CANADA 1,840
SAUDI ARABIA 1,579
MEXICO 1,116
VENEZUELA 1,030
NIGERIA 851
IRAQ 583
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
Take note that only 2 of these sources are from the Middle East. Only 1 source is from Africa. Venezuela is CITGO.
[Posted by whitemale08 at 10:50 AM : Jul 23, 2008]
can''t blame him for trying. it''s up to others to recognize his vested interest, weigh it against that of the population at large, and decide if it''s in everyone''s interest ... including his.
he should be able to profit from it in a reasonable way if he promotes the idea and effects it''s implementation (w/ resources and money).
About 24.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were estimated to exist as "remaining proved reserves" in 928 proved active fields of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, As of December 31, 2002.
T - Bone - Pickens has another trillion idea: "Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas Panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20 percent of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.%u201D
Posted by legacyABQ at 10:36 AM : Jul 23, 2008
You''re right...they are. Once these people (who could make the kind of $$$ in the private sector that they make in Washington) get a taste of the power and perks, they can''t give it up.
They''ll do and say whatever it takes to hold on to it and to acquire more of it! And when the majority gets elected based on what they promise to give back to the people in the form of more gov''t giveaways to those who elected them rather than what''s best for the country, well....that''s the end of our democracy.
And it''s coming. In fact, it''s almost here.
That should say ''COULDN''T make the kind of $$$''
his head is on the chopping block and he is useing the americans tax payers to bail him out.
July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, trying to persuade Congress to approve his rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said U.S. financial market stability is at stake and international investors are awaiting the outcome.
``This is about not only our housing markets, but it''''''''s about our capital markets more broadly,'''''''''''''''' Paulson said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. ``This goes well beyond the two institutions -- Fannie and Freddie -- it has to do with investors in the United States and investors all over the world.''''''''''''''''
yep, we the people get f by whitehouse and congress again..thanks to americans not telling congress to get f on this idear. everyone should hold town by town rally,city by city rally,state by state rallys or completely stop working stop buying,stop them in their tracks.
come on america what will it take for you to stand up for your kids and grandkids futures..
for-america@hotmail.com
americans need to tell congress that the same investors that are putting americans on the streets, need to be told that it goes both ways, and americans are not going to bailout the same investors that started this whole thing in the first place
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