The Pickens Plan
70During the last presidential election in America I was watching the daily TV commentaries to see what the outcome would be because, although I don't live in America, I feel that what happens in America has a deep effect on what happens around the rest of the world.
To coin and old phrase " when America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold"
Just look back at the last 'economic correction' that we are still fighting our way to overcome!
Anyhow that's another story !
What I did catch was a snatch of an interview with a man whose name that I did not hear but what I did hear of the interview made a lot of sense to me , not just to benefit America but just about anywhere around the world especially here in my native Australia.
I have since found out that the man's name is T. Boone Pickens and what he was talking about was what has become 'The Pickens Plan'
Will the Pickens Plan work . Ok, I will say that I am no financial expert and I don't know if it will work or not but I know common sense when I hear it and this plan has a lot of good old common sense!
In the following short article I would like to see if we can regard Mr. T. Boone Pickens as a man just trying to add more dollars to his already huge fortune, or is he what some of his ardent fans call a " Visionary "
Who is Mr T. Boone Pickens
I am not here to judge whether T Boone Pickens is a good guy or not just to decide whether his Pickens Plan is worth careful consideration. So let's just study some of his life!
He has done way too much in his life to cover it all here so lets just cover what's of interest to the subject matter which is 'The Pickens Plan'
T. Boone Pickens
Born in 1928 T.Boone Pickens seems to be a self made billionaire, worth an estimated net worth of around $3 billion and is well within the top 500 wealthiest men in America.
He is reported to have started his working life at age 12 delivering newspapers and often refers to this time of his life as good grounding for later day business dealings.
His wealth has come from his dealings mainly in the Oil industry following a period as a "Wildcatter" and started his own company 'Mesa Petroleum'
In 2009 T. Boone Pickens was awarded the prestigious "Bower Award" from the Franklin Institute. The award was to acknowledge T Boone Pickens for business leadership.
Pickens is focusing now on alternative energy sources like Solar and Wind and the Washington Post has said that perhaps Pickens has taken on the strangest role in that:"he has fashioned himself, the billionaire speculator, an energy wise man, an oil-and-gas magnate as champion of wind power, and a lifetime Republican who has become a fellow traveler among environmentally minded Democrats ".
I will leave that up to history to decide the accuracy of the above statements?
The New York Times has reported that T. Boone Pickens: "has decided that drilling for more oil is not the whole answer to the nation's energy problems".
And now he is putting his money where his mouth is and building wind farms in Texas!
- T. Boone Pickens - Biography & Archive of T. Boone Pickens
Read more about T. Boone Pickens - Biography and Archive
Well I have learned enough about T. Boone Pickens to know that he is, very rich, has a can-do disposition, and when he says something it should be carefully considered.
So lets consider what his Pickens Plan is recommending:
The Pickens Plan in brief,
- Generate 22 % of Americas electricity from Wind power
- Build a electrical transmission grid
- Provide incentives for building owners to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options
- Replace Americas dependence of imported oil by using Americas natural gas sources.
The full Pickens Plan can be read on the Website:
- The Pickens Plan
Have a good read about the plan. I know he would benefit greatly from this, but is that a reason to scoff?
Should we be worried
I do not know how far or how successfull T. Boone Pickens has got with his plan.
I do know that countries like China, India and Brazil etc. are rapidly being industrialised and gobbling up available oil rights.
With this in mind I think it should be seriously considered by all countries, my country Australia included, to come up with some variation of the Pickens Plan.
Have Your Say
Would your country benefit from a policy as described in The Pickens Plan?
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I welcome participation from all sides to have an open discussion on The Perkins Plan but I do reserve the right to remove comments that constitute abuse of anyone and are not relevant to the topic of the Perkins Plan.
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The other great advantage of alternative sources is that they are inherently peaceful. We're not about to occupy foreign countries to steal their wind or sunshine!
@psychicdog, I do agree with what you saying in principal. in fact friends of mine have done this and indeed are running at a profit. However it is not always practical to do what you suggest due to factors such as. Rental properties, initial cost being too high for some home owners to install. This gets down to individual choice what I'm advocating is a National Initiative to cut down the use of imported oil.
@paraglider You make a very valid point. Australia, where I live, has bountiful supplies of both Wind and Sunshine.
We also have an almost immeasurable amount of Gas, so we are well placed to be able to implement a national policy similar to the Pickens Plan.
Define Natural Gas! Depends on how the gas is mined. Have a look at Gasland (youtube trailer is all you can get your hands on in Australia at this time), before thinking it's the solution. It's a disaster and people are being conned. Additionally BP's disaster is enough to say "Wait a minute, can we afford to make more environmental disasters?" As we speak agvulpes, the pristine WA coastline is a target for the mining companies.
More resources need to be put squarely toward total environmentally green fuels. Just because it's natural gas doesn't mean it's naturally mined. It's not.
Beware of the name Greencorp - this corporation is NOT green at all.
Look at solar and thermal first and foremost.
@jewels what you are saying is quite valid and I agree with you that more safeguards are needed to avert disasters like the BP's one that is still ravaging the US coastline and killing countless wildlife and ruining businesses.
However you seem to have missed the point of this Hub, governments still have to face the fact that they rely on imported oils.
You have not given me your opinion on the concept of The Pickens Plan as a national option.
I feel that if you had read the Pickens Plan it would have covered most of your fears. This Hub is not a forum for condemning things it is trying to look into the future and make countries self sufficient by using the most environmentally friendly resources that are available today! I am talking about how they are consumed not so much how they are mined or harvested! I'm not too sure that if there was a disaster in a gas field if it would be as disastrous as an oil blow out?
Pickens used to do a lot of promotion with TV ads but have not seen him for a long time. Some things like incentives to winterize homes have been around for a long time.
I think he has some good ideas but he also stands to profit.
dahoglund, hi thanks for the contribution to the discussion!
I realize that some of the individual points have been bandied around for ages. Here in Australia we have a number of incentive plans operating. I am talking about looking at the whole Perkins Plan as a national blueprint, for want of a better word.
And don't get me wrong I am not trying to portray T.Boone Pickens as some sort or Saint.
I do realize that he will profit, but where would you want your money to go?
Profit taking by overseas companies or profit by the Perkins companies to be paid out partly to employees to stimulate the economy.
Should we condemn a man and his ideas because he stands to make a profit. I believe that to be a very short sighted approach!
Thanks a lot for dropping by and joining the debate :-)
We heard a lot from this guy a few years ago. He has been quite lately.
I read somewhere that explained how wind power and other alternative electrical power means, at its max would only be able to produce about 30% of the required power for the US. I just wish I had studied it a little more to remember the reasons why.
Also, natural gas wells, from my understanding are above the oil reserves. The earth breaks down oil to natural gas, which in return does not require as much processing of oil. This appears to be a smart step for me. Still there is not any true answer on how to power cars yet. The technology is not there, and I am not sure it will ever be there.
Keep on hubbing!
Thanks for a very informative hub, power is the mainstay for us during these trying times, we must come up with solid good answers. Great hub, and thanks
@eovery, thanks for your contribution to this debate :-)
The Perkins Plan is only suggesting 22% of power would be obtained from Wind Power. But the thing that intrigues me about America is that the country does not have a National Power Grid in place already. I find that very disturbing!
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "no true answer" on how to power our motor cars. There is absolutely no reason why cars New and converted can't be run on LPG or CNG. We have to consider that not only are there over 600,000 vehicle being built every year. There are millions of old Internal Combustion Engine vehicles churning out pollution all over the world. If these cars were converted to the cleaner running LPG or CNG (it is claimed up to 80% cleaner than petrol) then the world would be a much cleaner place!
Thanks for commenting :-)
@Darlene Sabella
Thanks so much for your support and I appreciate your comments :-)
You are very correct when you say power is our mainstay and as I have said before I'm amazed that America does not have a national Electricity Grid.
Australia many years ago saw the necessity for this and constructed a reasonable grid, I guess for security reasons it is not talked about all that much.
To me Electricity is so important that I believe the distribution of Electricity should be run by the Government of each Country. This leads to standardization and should lead to cheaper supply!
We need all sources of power. Wind alone of course creates an intermittent power source. Great hub! Flag up and awesome!
It is a good plan. Hmnn..I am afraid it will take a great number of years and education on the part of the people so they can reiterate it to the ones they put in Congress and Senate. I do not vote on elections other than Presidential Elections. I do not know enough politics.
Thank you for the hub
@dallas93444, Yes I agree we need to evaluate all types of Power sources. I have an uneasy feeling about Wind Turbines in their current style and I will be looking at that further down the track. I just feel that there are better options! Thanks for your contribution :-)
@msorensson, thanks for the endorsement on the plan. Yes I agree about the education process. I'm not sure if you are aware of the Lobbying that goes on to politicians, behind the scenes to sway the way they see things. I believe that even though it will never be stopped the process should be made much more transparent.
Thank you. Your comments are very much appreciated :-)
Obtaining alternative sources of fuel is essential to our nations future! Good post !!
I still advocate watching the gasland documentary before making a statement that a BP oil blowout is more disastrous. As Natural Gas is the bridge fuel to the more environmentally friendly fuels, it can't be overlooked as an issue to be tabled.
Having said that, I think Pickens plan has merit provided it starts now. Perhaps his being 'quiet' means he has started the process.
It is somewhat an ideal undertaking considering the lack of infrastructure (ie power grids), citizens reliance on big heavy duty vehicles instead of the more economical small 4 cylinder car. The education program will need to be extensive - but it is necessary for an entire change in mindset.
@carolina muscle, thanks for the contribution to a very important matter for all countries around the world.
@jewels, :-) You just can't see it can you, your own agenda in your first paragraph! I don't think we are on the same page? where did I make such a statement as you quote:
" a statement that a BP oil blowout is more disastrous"
I have never made such a statement and it is my opinion that a 'disaster' is a 'disaster' and all 'disasters' should be handled with utmost speed.
Back to the topic of the Hub:
I think you are still missing my point. I am not saying "Hey give T. Boone Pickins an open cheque"
Rather what I am saying is " Hey countries wake up you are becoming way too reliant on imported oil".
One of the best and quickest ways to do this is to convert the millions of ICE vehicles running on petrol and diesel to run on either LPG or CNG.
I believe that the power grid we have here in Australia is possibly one of the best in the world. It's the way we are generating the electricity that is the problem. I do not believe that wind is the major option! We must look at other ways. I will be looking at that in other Hubs!
Gosh Peter, really surprised at your response, again! Nevermind.
Julie, I fail to see why you are surprised. If you are going to keep making the same 'statements' you are going to get the same responses!
So I guess as you say "Nevermind"
A visionary to be sure. All visionaries make heaps of money - and deserve to do so. It's going to take someone with billions to turn things in the direction they need to go. A nation is as a ship - it cannot be turned on a dime but many things need radical change and our dependence on limited resources is one of them.
@SEM Pro, I'm not quite sure about your axiom of; "All visionaries make heaps of money" but I do agree with the " deserve to do so" part :-)
I would like to reiterate here that I am not endorsing or condemning T.Boone Pickens the "man" (I do not comment publicly on the politics of countries other than my own).
It is rather the "PLAN". Maybe I should start calling it another name other than 'the pickens plan'.
However I do agree, your analogy of a 'ship' is quite apt!
This problem is HUGE and I think that it is even too big for one individual to turn around. This is job for Federal Governments and they need to be doing something about it 'yesterday' not sitting around having talk fests and then being side-tracked by vested interests.
Thanks for contributing to the discussion on the "Peter Plan" sorry Perkins Plan :-)
I stand corrected - you are right about that: not all visionaries make heaps. Unfortunately the paradigm of "take care of number 1" seems to be more prevalent amongst our political leaders than even its blatantly obvious infestation on Wall Street. With 4 x as many extremely aggressive lobbyists as congressmen in the US, no matter how incredible the vision and platform to be elected, good intentions are bought and replaced with greed. The captain of our ship espoused energy alternatives and preventative health care as priorities. Next thing we know, they are sitting on their thumbs dumbfounded as BP's incompetence continues destroying lives, our environment and the economy; passing laws mandating every citizen (even the unemployed with any assets they've accummulated in their lives) make the insurance companies richer and buy into a healthcare system that has nothing to do with actual health and less to do with wellness; and don't get me started on the false promises of an end to war.
I'm afraid mutiny is almost essential at this point. The true visionaries, unwilling to buy into the limitations and negativity of greed, are beginning to join forces "for the good of all". With that paradigm shift as our foundation, naturally it is quickly escalating into a global movement - with focus and synergy re-directing the tide.
There is no time to wait for all of our so called "leaders" in government to "get it".
Sem Pro thank you so much for your comment! I must state my long declared policy of not commenting on the politics of another country, so unfortunately I can't say much in detail about what you have said.
However I will leave it up in its entirety as I believe it be be relevant to our little debate here. In case you have not heard the Prime Minister (Now ex) Mr Rudd who when elected only a short time ago in a landslide victory (he was touted to serve three terms) has been ejected by his own party to be replaced by Ms Julia Gillard as PM. She looks like calling a general election this week end! So much for stable Government!
I have been saying for years that the lobbyists have way too much access to our politicians and should be made to be more transparent with their approaches.
I do agree with you that it seems that when entering government the intentions are "High and Mighty" but it is soon worn down to "toe the party line" I have seen it happen so many times here in Australia! We have a classic example here at the moment!
There is an old adage that seems to pop into my head in that "you get the government that you deserve"
I think Pickens idea of increasing wind mill power generation is a good one. But I think his vision of it being a significant source is a bit off base. I think, as someone pointed out, we have the sun and we have a lot of rooftops. This, to me, would be a much better use of resources if we spent a little time researching, for example, how you can come up with a solar shingle—something that would still do its job but also provide a power source AND be aesthetically pleasing as well and complimentary to the architecture of the house you put it on, unlike those ugly behemoth panels.
Springboard, thanks for your great contribution to this discussion. I totally agree about Wind Power. I believe that Wind Power has too many negatives, apart from taking up too much real estate its impact on surrounding environment is a minus and the future maintenance costs for these turbines will be huge. There has to be a better way! I can remember reading somewhere that 'solar shingles' are in fact available.
Something worries me about solar as well. In my research I have found that the panels actually do degrade over time and do not have a long life time. Although there is a Solar Hot Water panel on my house roof which has been operating ok now for a number of years.
Mr. Pickens is a fellow Texan. He is a wild-catter at heart and has certainly made enough money with which to speculate. The wind does blow across the oilfields of west Texas and it is hard to ignore. Energy prices in Texas are far from cheap especially in terms of electricity. My average monthly bill is around $350 and has been nearly twice that amount. Most of Texas electric energy comes from coal...not just home grown coal but that and more from the fields of Wyoming. It makes for expensive energy even though there is lots of it. I think Mr. Pickens is a visionary not so much today but in the future one to two decades out. Those who have established "wind energy fields" will own the business of supplemental energy sources which will be all we have to make our prices reasonable. At that point and time, the investment will become significant. Thanks for a great hub! WB
G'day Wayne. We have some things in common. One is the high electricity prices. Ours is closer to $900 and we are waiting for our winter bill to arrive! Another is that we also source a lot of our electricity from Brown Coal gathered in the La Trobe valley about 100 miles from Melbourne. We also had some visionary people many years ago and they built a Hydro-Electric Scheme in the Snowy Mountains and set up a wide ranging grid to distribute what they generated. This scheme also helped Australia to grow it's population.
I think you and I both agree that the World as a whole need the people of Mr. T. Boone Pickens ilk, with their vision and MONEY (read power and influence).
These days you can't do anything without the MONEY behind you.
I for one don't care if they make a profit as long as it is done in an ethical way.
I appreciate greatly you taking some time-out and contributing to this discussion!
@agvulpes....my sentiments exactly sir and well stated I might add! Thanks friend, WB!
The only problem I ahve with T Boone is everything he does is about him making a buck. He has been horribly wrong with his oil trading over the past few years - has lost billions of dollars. He has great PR though. I am skeptical at best about him sorry. He bought all that land up for water and tried that game - know it is wind... On wind I have two negatives on them - one is the kill so many birds and two ask anyone who has lived near them - the noise is unbearable. There are solutions though it is where you put them. Norway and Spain have been excellent offshore in windy areas and where birds are not plentiful. Great hub and appreciate the insight. At the end of the day we have to do something I just don't want another money hungry guy or entity or group to stuff it up.
BAD I would find it hard to argue against any of your points in fact I have stated openly that I have the same reservations as you about wind power. Another point with this is that my feelings are that the maintenance of these wind turbo is going to be not very cost effective. I have actually heard of some self destructing!
I hope you did not miss the point I am making about T Boone Pickens. I am not supporting him or his companies (I don't know enough about how he operates). What I am advocating is the principals that the Pickens Plan is pushing. That is the self reliance of countries to provide their own fuel resources and not rely on the Arab and other like nations to ration out the oil that they have left.
If this means that T Boone Pickens and others like him who are prepared to put their money where their mouths are then so be it. Let them make a profit, rather in their pockets where they employ local and pay local than sending the 'whole' of the money 'capital' and 'profit' offshore.
Thanks for the great comment drop in any time you feel like it!
I had no idea solar shingles might be available. As to their "short" life, it would stand to reason for me that if the viability of a solar shingle was better, or if it were in higher demand let's just say, the cost of them would come down, and the incentive to improve them would go up. Eventually somewhere down the line we'd have a reason to innovate and improve the technology.
I agree with you all of the way. Look how quickly other technologies have reduced in price. TVs, computers etc.
The only problem I can see is the shape of the 'solar shingle'! You would have to make a variety of shapes and colors.
I wonder if it would be possible to have them molded into the tiles that we see on the roofs of houses that are built today?
With the inventiveness of the human mind I say that anything is possible!
Imagine it | Make it !
I agree with the independence from overseas energy sorry I was a little blinded by what I see as Picken's opportunism. He is great at raising money not so great lately at returning profits that is all. America needs to be self sufficient - Gulf spill doesn't help immediately but it should point to change - even being more energy conservative would help! Solar is a great option and Ia great the prices will come down - especially that the Germans and Chinese are the two biggest in that space. Also thanks for the Twitter follow - I am new t that game :)
BAD maybe I should have spelt it out a bit better. Being Australian and living in Australia I tend to not follow the politics of other countries. I also admit to not knowing a lot about T. Boone Pickens. It was purely the way he espoused the ideas of his Plan that appealed to me.
The thought that Australia could be totally independent in the Fuel side is I beleive a must in the very near future.
An educated guess is that the same would apply to America?
Interesting hub. Not sure what to think of this plan. I remember hearing the commercials.
I'm guessing he was betting on the whole global warming thing. He's been known to speculate a bit and maybe he was betting on cap and trade (tax).
As the world economy has soured, the taste for cap and tax on energy has diminished. Add that to the whole email scandal about global warming data being massaged and I think the whole issue has been tabled, thus Mr. Pickens has gone quiet.
As to his plan, if cap and tax becomes a reality, then it would make solar/wind more competitively priced. Economically speaking it will not make prices cheaper, instead it makes cheaper energy, (oil/gas/coal) more expensive, thus more competitive.
I'm all for alternative sources. Someday laser fusion will provide us endless sources of energy but that is probably 100 years away.
Another far out proposition is Heluim3. Turns out there is lots of it on the moon. It is a much easier to create a fusion reaction with Helium3 that will yield energy gain, (more energy out than used to start the reaction.) See http://hubpages.com/hub/Race-to-the-moon---The-Key
Great topic, thanks for starting the conversation.
Tom thanks for the great comment :-)
One of my big concerns is the immediacy of the problem !
If we don't do something 'today' it may be too late to save a lot of the species that are already endangered!
I must also add that I am not totally convinced about the whole 'global warming' argument!
I get back to the original point of the Hub in that it is in the best interests of countries such as America and Australia to be self-sufficient in their fuel supplies.
Hence my reference to a Pickens Plan type arrangement.
Thanks for adding to the discussion :-)
This is a very interesting hub and I enjoyed reading it. About 15 years ago I worked in the same building in Dallas that Mr. Pickens has his office in. I had the opportunity to have several conversations with him. My impression of him is that he is a very smart man. He also is a very nice man. He did not know me at all but took the time to talk to me just passing in the hallway. We would see each other from time to time and stop and chat for a few minutes. Doesn't sound like your average billionaire to me.
I am no energy expert but I think his plan will at least help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Using any alternative to oil will help reduce our oil consumption.
Shawn, thanks for sharing this great account of your meeting with T.Boone Pickens. Personally I have never met a billionaire so I don't know what I would expect?
As you describe him he seems like a decent Human Being and although he may like to make a dollar or two, he also has some compassion! I say what's wrong with that ?
I agree wholeheartedly with your last paragraph :-)
Thanks for dropping by and adding to the discussion!
A very thought provoking hub agvulpes, and typically straight forward. Putting politics aside, I think Pickens has had some good ideas. As for converting motor vehicles to LPG it is a great way to reduce our dependency on oils.
Jewels makes a valid point about gas extraction. Some countries need to concentrate on the less hazardous methods of mining gas until other ways of gas recovery and production are invented in my opinion.
Unfortunately for some locations that will mean sourcing natural gas from countries where it is safer and easier to extract.
It is a lot better alternative to invading countries for oil in my opinion.
Great hub ag!
Thanks earnestshub for the contribution to the debate!
I am not in dispute with what Jewels was saying about the extraction methods used for Gas. The whole point of this Hub is whether or not countries like Australia and America should become more self reliant with their own fuel supplies as mentioned in the Pickens Plan? You seem to be suggesting the reverse?
I can see the scenario where, as you seem to suggest, countries that supply the Gas will be invaded to secure that Gas supply. Much the same as it is being suggested America is doing now to secure the Oil supply so much needed these days.
I look forward to reading your response!
Well agvulpes, I reckon you are right about using gas that we have to reduce oil dependency both in America and Australia.
There should be no need for either country to be dependent on imported fuel.
The point I was trying to make is that some individual gas extraction methods such as those used in some parts of Australia and Canada are no better than oil rig in pollution output, and so should not be our first choice to exploit.
The countries without natural gas should be able to buy it cheaply from Australia and America.
Hi earnestshub the discussion here is not about 'extraction methods' it is more a discussion on policy!
If you study the Pickens Plan fully you will see that it covers other things besides what we call Gas.
I believe that Australia is now going down this path. Although obviously not calling it a 'Pickens Plan' it is implementing many of the concepts and ideas that the Pickens Plan advocates. Huge Wind Farms are being built, Solar Power Farms are also being built and our National Electric Grid is being expanded. All of these are part of what T Boone Pickens has put into the Pickens Plan.
Thanks for adding to this discussion I am finding it quite enlightening and would love others to contribute to the debate!
psychicdog.net Level 4 Commenter 22 months ago
Wind Power is good but what about Solar Panels on roofs in hotter places like some parts of OZ where we can turn our houses into a virtual electricity station and actually put electricity back into the grid for a profit!