Looking for good home: 687 giant wind turbines

T. Boone Pickens is calling it quits on the largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, according to a an Associated Press wire story. The problem in the plan: a distribution system for the generated power. The problem in nixing the plan: what exactly do you do with 687 wind turbines with heights ranging to 400 feet? That is a lot of steel. Government corporate crony General Electric got the order for the turbines worth approximately $2 billion dollars. Like a number of other environmentally friendly ideas, Pickens’ wind power goals are simply ahead of their time.

A couple weeks ago I talked to an energy expert and he told me the solution to energy is really simple—a combination of solar and natural gas. Many who work in energy today are frustrated with uncertainty within the market. If Democrats in Congress get Cap and Trade pushed through the US Senate, no one really knows the total impact. Proponents of the bill like its most conspicuous sponsor Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) either don’t care about the impact on Americans are have chosen to lie about it. Your guess is as good as mine. Very few of your elected leaders have read the Cap and Tax bill as the GOP calls it.

I do hope we will find alternative means of energy, because I don’t like the fact we’re importing 70 percent of the oil we use here in the US. But I believe this is an issue for the marketplace, one that should be encouraged by realistic tax credits and research funding.

If cleaning up the carbon is the true goal of President Barack Obama, his energy czar and the Democratic-controlled Congress, there’s one option that can have immediate impact. Give property owners a real incentive to install home heating and air units with higher energy ratings. When I say a real incentive, I mean a tax credit, and not the measly credit previously offered. That tax credit would not only benefit the consumer by saving him or her money, it would benefit the HVAC industry in countless ways, from the technician who changes out the unit to the equipment and parts manufacturers supplying the materials. There is a proven large difference between older HVAC units and new energy efficient units. [Disclosure: I benefit indirectly from any uptick in the HVAC industry.]

Another issue relates to natural gas. On his blog at Pickens Plan, the industrialist announces his op-ed piece at Politico. Pickens calls attention to information Waxman and Obama ignore: “We have plenty of natural gas. The huge amounts of natural gas contained in the shale deposits under Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Appalachia have helped drive America’s natural gas reserves to more than a century’s worth...A recent study by the Potential Gas Committee found that there are 2,074 trillion cubic feet of domestic natural gas reserves - the equivalent of nearly 350 billion barrels of oil, about the same as Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.”

Wind power is great in some areas; in others where noise and some species of raptors are issues, wind power is not so great. Eagles and other birds of prey get sliced fairly efficiently.

There’s no contact info in the AP story for seekers of windmills. If you want one, just visit Pickens’ website. I figure he’ll give you a good deal.

Meanwhile, ask yourself why major media haven't widely publicized this change of heart by Pickens. You'd think his announcement would be above the fold in print and online.

 Looking for good home: 687 giant wind turbines
by Kay B. Day
Jul. 8, 2009