The Pickens Plan

Why can't the USA put up large solar power farms in the southwest? Endless miles of desert are the ideal location for such large farms. And if certain areas of the country have so much wind, put up those wind mills! I keep hearing how windy areas of the midwest are, so why not put up those wind mills?

Gee, just shut up about complaining and start doing something now!

GWP, exactly. We hear nothing but rhetoric from not only politicians, but from the American people as well. We always say we need to do this, or we need to do that. But when it gets down to it, we don't. Why? Because it's easier to keep doing what we're doing. We don't like change, because it's hard. I'm even guilty of that. I have a huge problem with one man, a Congressman telling a company that they can't build a windfarm, offshore, where it will have minimal impact on people, and disturb very little marine life, just because it "might" ruin his view of water. If I remember correctly, these farms would have been miles off shore. So the likelyhood of him even being able to see them is slim. Everyone has to make sacrifices. I'm doing it. But I guess if you have the funds, you don't have to do it as much. I say go over his head, get backing and the permits to build the farms. Couple that with Solar, and Nuclear, we'd be using very little biomass to power our society. Then switch all cars to run on electricity or fuel cells, and we won't need oil anymore. But thats nothing but a dream right now. Too many politicians afraid of losing votes. And that, my friends, is the real problem.

Lawrence, you've hit the nail on the head - in a sense. Everyone should find out who their congressmen and senators are, send them emails (they all have a site), and ask them why they aren't putting forth plans to rid us of the oil monkey. Then, back that up by voting them out in November, if they don't comply. This is an election year, the perfect opportunity for a sea change, but Americans have to get off their butts and vote!

The Pickens Plan is simple and effective: a recipe for a complete shutdown by our elected officials. I am concerned that Americans and our system may have become incapable of pulling together for a technological change of this magnitude as has been done with other past national projects. Personal gain, a feeling of helplessness and over regulation has overtaken our desire to do for the country and the common good. How can we make this energy change work? It appears the technology is in place.

There are plenty of ways we can wean ourselves off the foreign oil. The only thing we seem to lack is a Congress with a backbone. As soon as they get into office, they begin raising money for the next election campaign. This kind of distracts them from the jobs at hand. Further, they don't want to deal with anything controversial, because that might cost them votes. The public speaks, but they're not always right. And, Timmy, over-regulation isn't always the culprit. In fact, the current housing mess is precisely because of under-regulation and lack of oversight. Vote them all out and let's start out on the right foot.

$600 billion spent in a waste of a country like Iraq. $600 billion could have built lots of windfarms, solar power plants and hydrogen refueling stations. But nobody cared about gas until it hit our pocketbooks. Good thing this war never hit our pocketbooks cause we might have spoke up more.

Andy -- will do -- I have had it with these politicians stuck in their own worlds.

Wind, solar - good. Natural Gas (NG) for cars - bad.
Requires a new infrastructure, and does not remove carbon dioxide emissions. May still need liquid NG imports!

Instead we need solar/thermal/wind renewable energy and plug in electric cars to totally remove CO2 emissions.

Using NG is TB Pickens still thinking like an oil man. Got to get away from all things hydrocarbon. Unless we get it from algae or cellulosic materials. Society needs to go farther than TBP wants to go.

Oh, and go farther - use renewable electricity to replace coal power generation.

Yes I agree that Pickens plan is a good one. I think instead of putting people at risk with nuclear plants, start using wind and sun (solar power).

Maybe Pickens should run for president. So far he has had the best ideas.

We'll be off oil in ten years as the idiot producers have beaten their golden goose to death. Thank You!! The earth can do without the CO2. Just dumped my Jeep for a 42 mpg Sentra and will dump it next year when the plug in Prius is out. Go Wind Go Solar!!

Any ideas that would get us off the roller coaster ride of oil, should be considered.
The problem is getting the fat cats in Washington (who aren't affected by the rising cost of fuel) to do something.
Pickens plan may not be the answer, but at least hes putting his money where his mouth is. Not just talking, or complaining about the problem.

A man with a plan, a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomarrow!
To the drill here drill now guy.
You can buy a 160 watt solar system from costco for $913.00 .so this guy is blowing smoke, or smoking blow. We believe do everything we can as long as long as it is domestic. including drilling for more oil,we need to take advantage of every resource we have now.
spread the word

i'd invest if i had money in this man with no hesitation!! he's smart enough not to accept becoming a "politician"..____Humanitarianism First!!