What is the Pickens Plan?

We've all seen the recent commercials with T. Boone Pickens, describing his "Pickens Plan." The commercial is brief, but it does talk about ending America's addiction to foreign oil - and this is the heart of the Pickens Plan. But what kind of model does the Pickens Plan offer in order to break this addiction? And why does he think it will be more successful than other plans that have been developed by environmentalists in the past?

Through this new plan, T. Boone Pickens proposes building wind turbines and expanding on existing wind farms in our nation. But this alone is nothing new - the United States has been utilizing wind-generated electricity for quite some time now, albeit in an extremely limited capacity.

That is why T. Boone Pickens is also suggesting an overhaul of our vehicles via conversion to natural gas. Since this can be done rather inexpensively and much quicker than the installation of wind turbines, T. Boone Pickens thinks we should make this switch immediately, while we are waiting for new wind turbines to be installed and more wind farms created.

But he does have an excellent point. Not only is natural gas the cleanest form of fuel available today, it is the far more inexpensive than gasoline or diesel, and it is also safer. Furthermore, it is much easier to convert an engine to run on natural gas then it is to convert an engine to bio-fuel. But the part that really makes this plan stand out from the rest of the energy-saving solutions we've seen recently is the fact that natural gas is so abundant here in North America.

If we all contact our representatives in congress and the governor's office, T. Boone Pickens thinks that we can get the point across to our next president that this is indeed an issue we are taking seriously. According to his Energy Independence Pledge, T. Boone Pickens wants the next president to enact an energy plan that will reduce our nation's foreign oil dependency by at least 30% within the next ten years. And he is adamant about getting this accomplished within the first 100 days of the new presidency.

He has set up a website, www.pickensplan.com, where you can learn more. He has also appeared on several talk shows in promotion of the Pickens Plan. T. Boone Pickens is the founder and chairman of BP Capital Management, so he is no stranger to the oil crisis that America faces today. He has a good plan - but just like any other, it will take the cooperation of nearly every citizen in the United States, and perhaps even the world to truly combat global warming effectively.