Have you read about Picken's Plan for energy independence?

Question

www.pickensplan.com

this is the first person i've seen with a real alternative to our current downward spiral.

Answer 1

Yes, and he's right. He's a smart, no nonsense kind of guy.

Answer 2

Read the article in Business Week about a month ago.

Pickens is building a large wind generation facility to power pumps so he can sell groundwater to Texas cities. In order to make it work, he bribed the legislature of Texas to change the law governing water districts. Five of his employees are now water district directors with the power of eminent domain so they can seize private property to run his waterlines to the cities. The legislature also changed safety regulations so that he can run water and high voltage together.

All the energy produced will be sold to the tax exempt water district, which will sell any surplus on the open market. The power will be sold at a loss, in case the tax breaks for renewable energy don't hold up.

All very clever, and except for the fact that there will be safety problems and the fact that he will be pumping out groundwater faster than it can recharge, maybe even a good idea if he actually does what he says he will do. But don't expect it to have any impact on current energy production methods.

Answer 3

that's the wind farm guy correct ?

everyone is saying "not in my backyard" already  !!

even die hard conservatives turn into hard-core environmentalists when it comes to their back yards !!

:)

Answer 4

He is a good person and a concerned American.  Too bad our own government never had the foresight to institute a viable energy policy.

Answer 5

First we need to build the wind turbines and other sources of alternative energy.  Which means that we have to build them in someone's backyard.

Answer 6

Well, if I was a liberal, I'd say that it won't affect our fuel prices right NOW, so there's no sense trying it.

Luckily, I'm not.....we do need a comprehensive energy plan that weans us off of fossil fuels.  That can't be done immediately, but it can be done long term.

My idea:  

Short term -- Increase oil production within the US, give us some financial breathing space.

Near term -- Invest in infrastructure for alternative energy, whether it be nuclear power plants, wind farms, tidal energy, solar, natural gas (methane), whatever.

Long term -- eliminate our dependence on oil

Short term is 1-5 years, near is 5-20, long is 20+.

EDIT:  I forgot entirely about solar towers...that's a technology that sounds very interesting:  http://www.wentworth.nsw.gov.au/solartow...