Pickens to Tout Alternative Energy

Texas oilman Boone Pickens opened an advertising campaign Tuesday in an attempt to bring more focus to solving the nation’s energy crisis.

The former wildcatter, who now leads the Dallas-based hedge fund BP Capital Management LP, outlined his concerns and some proposed solutions in New York.

“U.S. dependency on foreign oil has reached an economic crisis point,” Pickens said. “Now dependent on foreign nations for 70 percent of its oil, the U.S. is exporting $700 billion annually, more than four times the cost of the Iraq war.”

Last year, Pickens, an Oklahoma native and Oklahoma State University graduate and donor, announced plans to build the world’s largest wind farm in Texas. The cost of the project could grow to $12 billion before its scheduled completion in 2014.

Under Pickens’ proposal, thousands of wind turbines would be constructed across the nation’s wind belt, from Texas to the north, which he said would generate enough power to meet 20 percent of the nation’s electricity needs.

Transmission lines would be constructed to connect distant wind farms to cities that need the power.

Natural gas would be used to replace some imported gasoline and diesel.

Pickens now wants to bring energy to the forefront of the presidential election.

“I am calling on the next president and Congress to take immediate action in the first 100 days of the new administration to do whatever is necessary to make this plan a reality,” Pickens said. “We are asking the American public to get behind this plan and to help us reduce our dangerous dependency on foreign oil.”

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., praised Pickens for bringing forward a “common-sense energy plan.”

Inhofe said the two met last week and discussed increasing natural gas and wind energy production.

“The Pickens plan is a bold and achievable approach to meeting our nation’s energy challenges,” Inhofe said.

“Like Pickens, I believe tomorrow’s energy mix must include the development and expansion of natural gas and wind energy production. Importantly, however, I believe we must utilize all domestic energy resources including not only natural gas and renewable energy, but also oil, coal, and nuclear energy.”

Tulsa World Washington Bureau reporter Jim Myers contributed to this story by The Associated Press.

Originally published by Staff and Wire Reports.

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