Boone Pickens Solves the Energy Crisis

[coylifut]

http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan/

Cheer up folks. T. Boone to the rescue.

[bdaghisallo]

Yep... another savy capitalist rent seeking from the govt trough. I am not saying there's anything wrong with that on his part mind you. He's a business man afterall.

[GrantM]

part of any plan to save the world needs to include bicycles.... lots and lots of bicycles....



g

[coylifut]

Yep... another savy capitalist rent seeking from the govt trough. I am not saying there's anything wrong with that on his part mind you. He's a business man afterall.

here's more.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...d-energy_N.htm

Keep in mind that he's 80 and worth 4 bil. Currently, it's the only plan out there. I have a friend who lives in St. George Utah, has a LNG vehicle and pays under $1 per gallon. I tell him I pay $0 per gallon to ride to work. He laughs at me.

[davids]

Wind power should definitely be part of the solution. But it's just one component. And LNG is a mid-term fix, atmo. Why isn't he talking about solar arrays in the southwest desert? Oh, right...

And how much petroleum went into his wife's hair?

[twowheels]

there's a huge amount of wind development going on in the columbia river gorge. the oregon coast is also under investigation but its more problematic. winf energy is like drilling for oil 70 years ago.

lng terminals were shot down in california so the developers are now targeting oregon.

i rode my vespa to work today.

[climb01742]

whatever his motives, ulterior or otherwise, if he forces a debate...good for him.

[GrantM]

And how much petroleum went into his wife's hair?

there's another dog about to inherit a pile of cash...

[coylifut]

California has more LNG stations than anywhere in the US. It's under $3 per gallon in over 200 stations. He is talking about solar and is a big proponent of it. His quote is it's next and he hopes to see it in his lifetime. Every 80 year old I know (and I know a lot of 'em) is more optimistic than all the 40 year olds I know.

[1centaur]

whatever his motives, ulterior or otherwise, if he forces a debate...good for him.

Yes, especially if he gets others with political ambitions to propose plans - got to brain storm before you move.

Depressing story in the Boston Globe today, both because it said the Museum of Science wants to spend $300k to build three wind turbines that would save them $3k a year in electricity costs and because the journalist translated that to a 100-year payback period. The magic of compound interest really kicks in over a century.

[Ray]

You gotta figure something's changed when the guy who's made his billions in oil and who financed the swift boaters in 2004 is now going on TV to push wind and directly say "we can't drill our way out of this".

I haven't read the details of his plan and I don't tend to trust the likes of this guy, but I still take it as a very good indicator of a sea change.

-Ray

[72gmc]

Every 80 year old I know (and I know a lot of 'em) is more optimistic than all the 40 year olds I know.

I wonder if that has to do with the degree of technological change they've seen in their lifetimes relative to someone born in the late 60s. They've seen the infancy of the automobile, the advent of assembly lines, the country dig itself out of the Great Depression, the space race, and so on.

Regardless of his political leanings, his experience and outlook could do us some good.

[acotts]

whatever his motives, ulterior or otherwise, if he forces a debate...good for him.

+1

I personally think his plan has some pretty massive flaws. But he does put it front and center.

Another Baron to keep your eyes on is Lee Scott.

Both certainly have ulterior motives. I personally think Lee Scott may be the Devil because he can make anything he does look like apple pie.

[twowheels]

I haven't read the details of his plan and I don't tend to trust the likes of this guy, but I still take it as a very good indicator of a sea change.

-Ray

there is a definite sea change underway.

other big parts of the puzzle are the statutory requirements that, on a defined timetable, utilities obtain a substantial percentage of their energy from renewable sources, and federal and state tax incentives for renewable energy development.

the us supreme court also ruled a little over a year ago (Massachusetts v. EPA) that greenhouse gases, including CO2, are pollutants under the clean air act and, thus, their emission needs to be evaluated for regulation. the bush administration will take no action under this ruling and more lawsuits have been filed.

[Tom]

Every 80 year old I know (and I know a lot of 'em) is more optimistic than all the 40 year olds I know.

Hell, yeah. My optimism is a direct function of how close I think I am to dropping dead.

And to the anticipated riposte of "Well, then, why don't you?"

I'm a coward.

To the original point... unless things start changing slowly now they're going to change very fast later, and not for the better.

[Ray]

To the original point... unless things start changing slowly now they're going to change very fast later, and not for the better.

I'd probably feel that way if I was 80. Since I'm still in my 40s (barely), I think either things start changing slowly 30 years ago (when we had a president who was actually willing to put an energy plan in place, but who we tossed out rather unceremoniously because it was morning in Americal) or they're going to change very fast NOW, and not for the better.

But I hope you're right and its not too late for a relatively non-horrible transition.

-Ray

[72gmc]

Speaking of that president who was dismissed during Morning in America... I still wonder how things might be if we had gone forward in a positive way with nuclear power, rather than the hysteria and gross mismanagement (WPPSS, anyone?) that started with 3 Mile Island.

[coylifut]

Hell, yeah. My optimism is a direct function of how close I think I am to dropping dead.

And to the anticipated riposte of "Well, then, why don't you?"

I'm a coward.

To the original point... unless things start changing slowly now they're going to change very fast later, and not for the better.

nope. that's not it. they're not affraid of dying either. it's a simple case of experience breeding courage. that's why i'm not surprised that it's an 80 year old Pickens who's stepping forward.

[acotts]

Hell, yeah. My optimism is a direct function of how close I think I am to dropping dead.

And to the anticipated riposte of "Well, then, why don't you?"

I'm a coward.

To the original point... unless things start changing slowly now they're going to change very fast later, and not for the better.

things are changing, and they are changing fast. I work in a reseach organization and no one has ever seen this kind of change at this kind of pace before.

Our electrical grid is the single largest machine on the planet. It is complex, fragile and it needs a few billion dolllars a year for the next few years in order to overhaul it just to keep it goin. Yet folks want to re-invent it overnight. It doesn't work like that. It is a critical system to our entire life and we cannot afford to make too many mistakes. When dealing with this stuff, mistakes costs billions to repair or it cold kill people.

So even though you dont see it, it is changing. We have 2 or 300% more wind today than was predicted 7 years ago. The only reason it is not 5 or 600% is that there is not enough supply. Solar is finally making the breakthroughs folks were looking for 20 years ago and thousands of megawatts are being installed. There are like 3 200+MW installations in the talks right now in Nevada, Cali and Arizona.

We could have thousands of megawatts of Hydro, but the government wont pay the upkeep and enviromentalist are shutting them down. But we are trying.

Batteries are finally coming along. Congress is comming along, and our nation is slowly getting there as well.

just dont expect this to happen overnight. And dont expect a utopia either. We need coal, we need nuke, we need natural gas, and we need renewables. And this will all cost a few trillion dollars.

[acotts]

I'd probably feel that way if I was 80. Since I'm still in my 40s (barely), I think either things start changing slowly 30 years ago (when we had a president who was actually willing to put an energy plan in place, but who we tossed out rather unceremoniously because it was morning in Americal) or they're going to change very fast NOW, and not for the better.

But I hope you're right and its not too late for a relatively non-horrible transition.

-Ray

Just to comment on this. The goal is to keep our energy prices to just double what they are today. At worst, a double of the doubling. The problem with some of these plans, is that the economics call for a 6x, 8x increase in rates. ANd that just sucks for poor people.