T. Boone Pickens Just Dropkicked The American Wind Industry

[Celebration]

http://www.businessinsider.com/t-boone-pickens-gives-up-on-wind-power-2010-7

T. Boone Pickens' newest version of the Pickens Plan to reduce oil imports depends almost entirely on natural gas. Wind power, which played a key role in the original Pickens Plan, isn't even mentioned.

Which is clearly a bearish sign for US wind

.........snip..............

Recall that the original Pickens Plan had two main, interlocking components: First, thousands of new wind turbines would be installed in the Great Plains along with the infrastructure needed to move the electricity to cities. Second, the wind turbines would free up natural gas – currently burned to make electricity – for use in vehicles instead of instead of foreign oil.

It could have to do with a recent Pickens investment:

... Pickens was (and is) muscling his new BFFs in the Democratic-controlled Congress to subsidize Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a Pickens business that builds natural gas fueling stations.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-28/pickens-home-depot-beat-wind-turbine-makers-in-u-s-energy-legislation.html

T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire energy hedge-fund manager, and Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, are winners in energy legislation that fails to help solar-panel and wind-turbine makers.

The measure proposed yesterday by Senate Democrats would give Pickens victory in his lobbying campaign for more use of natural gas , providing $3.8 billion in rebates for cars and trucks powered by the fuel. Home Depot would benefit from provisions to channel $5 billion in rebates to homeowners who upgrade to more efficient appliances or add insulation that reduces energy use.

The provisions were the main survivors among proposals to reshape U.S. energy use under the measure that would also set tougher rules for offshore drilling after BP Plc’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst in U.S. history. Absent from the measure were limits on carbon dioxide or requirements that utilities add solar and wind power to their portfolios.

“Boone’s been in the natural-gas business all his life,” Monty Humble, former senior vice president for Mesa Power LLP, a company founded by Pickens in 2007 to build wind farms, said in an interview. “As early as 1988, he advocated the use of natural gas in vehicles. This is consistent with what he was advocating."

[cleanhippie]

1. I knew it was too god to be true.......

A billionaire that "cared" about anything but profits? I guess not!

[Javaman]

9. I see you aren't from Texas. Those of here have long known of bone head picken's BS

When I first heard, years ago now, that bone head was going all wind power, my first thought was, "who is he going to screw over?".

Then following his new "crusade" I found that he really didn't give a damn about wind, he wanted water rights and a way to boost his natural gas sales.

So this latest little tidbit is nothing new. He's always been a snake oil salesman and always will.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

10. Speaking of water rights, this is an interesting table showing how much water

is taken from the Ohio River Watershed by the oil and gas companies in just the SW corner of PA.

http://www.marcellus-shale.us/Water-Mgmt-Plan_SW-PA.htm

These figures are just for ONE day and the drilling is expanding at a rapid rate. Daily water withdrawals in gallons from the Ohio River watershed 48,502,341

[Javaman]

11. and It's only going to get worse.

the tea bag morons scream about a want for a civil war, etc, but frankly, much like the whiskey rebellion, we will soon see people fighting over territorial water rights with in the states.

So far, the various disputes have been able to be resolved or compromised via the court, but in the not to distant future, I bet you as sure as the day is long, some people will choose to take matters in their own hands.

Then in steps the national guard.

bone head pickens wants to be on the forefront of water ownership. Here in Texas, as global warming/climate change takes its toll, things are only going to get worse water wise. He knows that and he wants to do all he can to control the aquifers. He's been buying up land over them for years.

Wars for oil will seem like the good old days in about 20 years.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

12. I can't really think of anything to add to that. I wish that I could "refudiate" what you said,

but we're on a compass heading leading in the direction that you describe.

The worst part is that people like Pickens are called "visionaries" just because they are able to find ways to make money at the great expense of others.

I have other words to describe them but..... proper decorum and all that.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Wind was always a stalking horse...

...for water.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_25/b4089040017753_page_3.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_25/b4089040017753_page_4.htm

[dgibby]

4. That's exactly what I was thinking. n/t

[msongs]

3. you referring to harry reid's welfare for T Boone Pickens natural gas rewards bill ? nt

[ashling]

5. Pickens was never serious about wind

Pickens is only serious about Pickens, and his interests have always been in oil & gas.

[leveymg]

6. The Pickens Plan is Palin's "Pipeline to Nowhere"

Few people outside Alaska know that Sarah Palin proved her street cred as a GOP national player by cajoling the Alaska legislature in early 2008 to plunk down half a billion in public subsidies for a pipeline that was designed to carry LPG south to the tar sand deposits in Alberta, Canada. Once the gas reaches Alberta, it's used to cook a highly contaminated oil slurry out of the ground, half of which is then loaded into tankers for shipment to China, that now owns half the tar sand deposits through Husky Energy. That's a massive conversion of relatively clean burning LPG into tar sand slurry, which is one of the dirtiest and environmentally destructive petroleum sources. See, http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/30/85718/9814/735/579990 and http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/8/12517/55971/297/589573

That's right, Sarah Palin used public money to build pipelines to subsidize the export of Alaskan and Canadian energy to China. Less than half would ever reach the U.S. That's also T Boone's plan, which also involves a Big China Oil export scheme.

You can take the wheeler-dealer out of Texas, but then they just take over the rest of the Continent. Next stop, the stars . . . no scam is too big.

[txlibdem]

7. Obama, Gore, etc., have touted that green energy is profitable

That is one of the best arguments FOR green energy. Green energy is profitable energy, it's not a charity operation. So there's nothing wrong with Pickens making a profit, all green technology should be profitable.

I've been a proponent of the Pickens Plan (I'm in his army) since it began so I'm not impartial about it.

The wind energy part of the plan is going to be expensive. Why not let this guy get some natural gas profits under his belt then he can ramp up the wind turbines. Let's not forget that switching big trucks and other heavy vehicles to natural gas will reduce their pollution by 40%. It's a good move. And, yeah, it's going to be profitable. So is anything dealing with oil. So is coal. So are toxic chemicals, etc.

Until we get rid of Capitalism we are stuck with having to enable profits for some in order to get benefits or improvements for the rest of us. Reality.

[WhiteTara]

8. we defeated the fucker in California a couple of years

ago. I'm sorry that DC was snookered by this crook.

[hootinholler]

13. Fracking Bastard!

Watch Gasland!

-Hoot