T. Boone Pickens, founder of the Pickens Plan to reduce our dependence on OPEC oil, and Denise Bode, Chief Executive Officer of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA.org) today jointly published an op-ed on the closely read Politicalpro.com website, a service of Politico.com.
The essay, which was written in conjunction with WindPower 2011 – the major wind industry event which was held in California this week, points out that
Since the earliest days of the Pickens Plan, the phrase “Everything American” has been a cornerstone. In addition to hydro, nuclear, geothermal, coal, solar and all the other potential sources of domestic energy, we put a spotlight on wind power for electricity and natural gas for transportation and power generation.
Bode and Pickens also remind readers that in spite of the recession,
Renewables such as wind and solar continue to make a significant contribution to America’s energy future. Utility-scale wind projects have accounted for 35 percent of new U.S. electric generating capacity since 2007, and America continues to install some 100 wind farms a year with larger and more efficient turbines.
As a matter of cost,
Wind power is already cheaper than new coal or new nuclear power. In the “wind corridor” – two states wide from Texas to the Canadian border – wind has now become cost-competitive with new natural gas generation, including tax incentives for all forms of energy production.
Wind offers long-term fixed prices for electricity, for up to 30 years, and uses virtually no water.
Oil isn’t a major fuel for electricity generation just as wind isn’t a transportation fuel. The op-ed speaks to our dependence on foreign oil for transportation saying:
We are producing about 12 million barrels of oil a day and consuming 20 million. We are not going to locate, drill, recover, ship and refine those additional 8 million barrels a day to fuel our fleets of 250 million passenger cars and light trucks; or our 8 million heavy-duty trucks.
But, for 18-wheelers, recycling and refuse trucks, municipal buses and other fleet vehicles,
Moving domestic natural gas into transportation and the 8 million heavy duty truck market can have a profound impact by cutting our OPEC oil dependency in half.
Bode and Pickens urge support for the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1380) which, even in this era of hyper-partisanship
has over 180 bipartisan co-sponsors and the endorsement of many members of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, as well as the moderate House Democrat Blue Dog Caucus.
Tying wind and natural gas into a package as the Pickens Plans does, the essay concludes:
Continuing to build out our wind capabilities will help us prepare to power our cars domestically tomorrow, and help power today’s grid. Better utilizing our domestic natural gas resources will help us immediately reduce our dependence on OPEC oil in the truck fleet.
To read the entire op-ed click HERE.
— The Pickens Team