I've got renewed appreciation for Pickens.

Anyone who brings out the right wing trolls must be doing something right.  ;o)

Is no longer needed to point out the problems and opportunities involved in our energy present and future.  

The negatives of his nutty support of swiftboaters and lobbyist shill politicians makes him politically untouchable.  Out damn codger!

We don't want you on our side.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

(2) He bet on wind, but forgot to RTFM -- wind is best situated in low density areas, but electricity is needed in high density areas.

That's why he lobbied sucessfully) for the Texas legislature and ERCOT to agree to build $10 billion worth of transimission capacitiy to handle the load form his and other wind farms.

Which, in turn, also allowed him to lobby ofr dual-use utility space so he could place water pipeline under the transmission lines and send billions of gallons of water
from the plains aquifers to Dallas.

All 'bout the money honey.

Good points David.  This is why market re-regulastion is needed.  Inside trading swindlers like Pickens need to be stopped.

Water, natural gas, and pipeline routes monopolies disguised as renewable energy and natural gas to replace imported oil.  I think a good case could be made that Pickens is pushing wind as a fraudulent loss leader.

If this rat was an environmentalist now, why is he still funding corporatist lobbyist linked politicians?

Targeting natural gas fuel conversion to long haul trucks and trains instead of cars would tend to kill the diversionary, delaying effect on plugin hybrid cars.  maybe that part of his plan and wind buildout could be saved, but not under his control.

The best thing would be to prosecute him for insider trading and monopolistic business practice.  Ulikely you say?  Remember this, under Bush nonenforcement, fellers like this have gone hog wild, maybe failing to cover their illegalities?  Leaving a new Attorney general and FTC head to get easy convictions of many many bush era crooks like Pickens.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

Do you want successful development of alternative energy or not? This kind of sentiment is flat out stupid:

"We don't want you on our side."

You need everybody on your side you can get - particularly people who have access to billions of dollars which they can invest in your plan.

The Republicans still have a large base of support in this country. That is not going to change in your lifetime. So you had better figure out how to work with them and move them on issues you consider critical - or you will lose in your carbon objective.

Do you want results or not? Because you can't get them by simply declaring conservatives as "the enemy". That is a formula for failure.

Victory in Pattani

I would wholeheartedly join the Pickens love fest if he would change his business model a bit and start bankrolling some of these Small Wind companies. Now I know that these small turbines aren't as sexy as their big cousins, but if a man of his clout started marketing them, you'd see houses all over the US making some of their own electricity on their rooftops and he could avoid wasting so much time and energy lobbying for transmission lines to cities.

My personal favorite vision of the next generation of power production is a cluster of VAWTs on every available rooftop.

The water grab is bad.  Morally.

But from a climate perspective, the real terrifying part is the natural gas end of his argument.

-David Ahlport

Use him to ride a mower on the white collar prison (Air Force) country club maintenance crew.

Confiscate his wealth to pay down the huge national debt he helped create.  He deserves about 100 times the sentence Martha Stewart got.

That horrible Noonan was on MSNBC this morning yammering about big government and spending and socialism in Obama's speech.  Meanwhile her "business expert" GOP has bankrupted this nation, put us into almost incomprehensible debt to China and Saudi Arabia.

Answer to these charges you hacks.  Your Reagan revolutionary heroes have sold US out to the worst multinational corporations and kleptocracies on the planet.

Noonan, Martha's cell is ready for you, got any insider hedge fund trading we haven't heard about?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

But recognize that when Pickens, GM, The Brookings Institute, and various other parts of "Big Business"/The Right start making moves toward renewables and solving the climate problem we've turned a big corner.

Be stupid and punish them when they do something right if you wish.  Do your (misguided) part to retard moment toward solutions.

(Personally I'm not going to worry about Pickens plan for natural gas for personal transportation.  I just don't think the market will make that choice once we get viable PHEVs. Pickens seems to have already given up that part of his plan as he learns more about other possibilities.)

"Confiscate his wealth to pay down the huge national debt he helped create.  He deserves about 100 times the sentence Martha Stewart got."

We have this thing in the US called due process. Now, last time I heard Pickens wasn't even indicted for anything. How about if we confiscate your wealth - such as it is - and use it to pay down the national debt.

You can't confiscate peoples wealth in the US. And in countries where you can - they are disaster areas - ecologically and otherwise.

Wake up for Christ Sakes.

Victory in Pattani

Never heard of that one eyyh?  That is a US law that allows the government to confiscate assets without any proof of any crime, if you want your assets back, the burden is on you.

I would not recomend that though, even for thieves like Pickens.  Instead use anti-trust laws to investigate his cornering of various markets in water, natural gas, pipeline routes, oil, and the bribes he paid to get that all done.

Enforcement of laws already on the books against corporate monpoly gaming is way past due.  Teddy Roosevelt's spirit needs to fill this new administration with law enforcement zeal.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

And if he's investigated and found guilty in a court of law, by all means. Until then, this is idiot talk.

"I would not recomend that though, even for thieves like Pickens.  Instead use anti-trust laws to investigate his cornering of various markets in water, natural gas, pipeline routes, oil, and the bribes he paid to get that all done.

Enforcement of laws already on the books against corporate monpoly gaming is way past due.  Teddy Roosevelt's spirit needs to fill this new administration with law enforcement zeal."

Victory in Pattani

Certainly it produces less CO2 than coal when used to make electricity.

Actually, thats the problem.
When it comes from Shale, it might actually be worse than Coal.

And the majoriety of the natural gas that Picken's etc is banking on would come from Shale.

Not to mention CH4 leaks from shale formations are 23x more potent as a GHG than CO2.  And the study there mentioned that Shale formations are the reason for rapid release of methane and CO2, similar to arctic tundra.

_

In short, this whole windmills thing could merely be greenwashing of a highly carbon intensive approach to transportation.

-David Ahlport

This may be another situation where too much education, as in Dr. Joseph Romm's case, may impair a person's thought process and perspective of the real world. There is no logical relationship, despite Romm's efforts to peddle his distorted views on two major sites, between Boone Pickens' political persuasions or political contributions and the Pickens Plan. Would Boone Pickens contributions to "progressive politicians" make the Pickens Plan even better? The Pickens Plan is what it is - a workable, well-considered blueprint to reduce reliance on costly foreign oil imports - regardless of whether Boone Pickens ever makes another political contribution.  

In order to tackle problems as big as our complete reliance on foreign oil.

Here's a message for Joseph Romm straight from a Gristmill blog posted less than 48 hours ago
by David Roberts: "It is not good political strategy to erect high walls around your issue and keep people out. I am sick of purity tests. Yay for T. Boone."

Roberts is right. All this nonsense about progressive politicians, campaign contributions and other petty considerations are not going to reduce our reliance on oil imports by a single drop. The Pickens Plan will.

The main...and flawed...premise of the Romm blogs for opposing the Pickens proposal is that he shouldn't get support from progressive politicians until he supports progressive politicians. Fortunately for American energy users, it appears that Pickens' lack of support for progressive politicians hasn't stopped progressive politicians from at least considering the Pickens concept. In commenting on Senate Leader Harry Reid's appearance before the Democratic convention, the Las Vegas Review Journal noted that "the speech reflected Reid's current obsession with the energy solutions proposed by...T. Boone Pickens."