The 'Pickens Plan' - A Fantasy or Reality?

Billionaire oil baron, T. Boone Pickens is abandoning the black gold that made him rich and looking to tap another, greener recourse to help power the nation... wind. Pickens made his fortune in oil, and currently assesses our energy needs as one “we can't drill our way out of.” He is a staunch critic of America's reliance on foreign oil and recently unveiled a radical new plan that could reduce American reliance on foreign oil by as much as a third and finally tip domestic energy production towards renewable natural resources. “The Pickens Plan” calls for the harnessing of wind power to generate more than 20 percent of the country's energy needs. Studies have shown that tthe “wind corridor” along the Great Plains states holds the greatest potential for wind energy anywhere in the world, making the USA the “Saudi Arabia of wind power.” According to the Plan, if private industry built enough wind turbines along the wind corridor, which stretches from Southern Texas to the Canadian border, they could generate 22 percent of the country's electricity. And Pickens is putting his money where his mouth is making a 2 billion dollar initial investment in what will eventually become the world's largest wind farm in Pampa, Texas. The Pickens Plan will only work if other companies make similar investments in wind power as thousands of wind turbines combined are necessary for the plan to come true. Furthermore, Pickens Plan states that when wind replaces many Natural gas power stations, that Natural Gas should be used as transportation fuel, which burns about 25 percent less CO2 than conventional fuel. There has been some criticism of the plan that it requires millions of dollars of public funding and that it is only replacing one fossil fuel, natural gas, for another, oil. Pickens will spend 58 million dollars promoting the plan through a mix of old and new media, and he believes the ideas could be implemented within ten years. You can learn more about the Pickens Plan at PickensPlan.Com. I'm Elizabeth Chambers. I'm Elizabeth Chambers. Check back here for more green news and eco-friendly tips, right here on LivingGreenChannel.Com. Distributed by Tubemogul.