Oil Billionaire T. Boone Pickens Turns To Wind
Thu, May 15, 2008
Environmental Graffiti Will be Changing Dramatically Soon. Get a Sneak Preview By Signing Up Here.
Image from brooklyn
For those of you not fortunate enough to know who T. Boone Pickens is, let me give you a brief rundown: he’s an egomaniac, oilman, and owns a hedge fund named BP Capital Management. He’s worth 3 billion dollars, and has given 230 million-plus to the athletic department of Oklahoma State University since 2005. He also gave 3 million dollars to “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,” the stars of the 2004 presidential campaign. Suffice to say, I think he’s a bad, bad, man. And yet, even he knows that oil isn’t going to hold on forever: he just spent 2 billion dollars to start a wind farm in Texas.
Just how much wind power will 2 billion dollars buy you? 667 turbines from GE will eventually produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity, capable of powering 300,000 American homes. To provide a frame of reference, that’s the size of present-day New Orleans, Tampa, or St. Louis. This however, is just a drop in the ocean– Mesa Power, the company through which T. Boone (T-Bone?) Pickens is running the project, has established this as just the first stage of four, with an eventual generating capacity of 4,000 megawatts.
Known as the Pampa Wind Project, the wind farm will be in the Texas panhandle, and will be superior to an oil field in a vast number of ways, but one, especially that matters most to Pickens: “You find an oil field, it peaks and starts declining, and you’ve got to find another one to replace it. With wind there’s no deadline curve.”
Environmental Graffiti is up for four bloggers’ choice awards. You can vote for us for best entertainment blog, best blog of all time, best geek blog and best animal blogger.
If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.
You Might Also Like Our Friends' Posts From the Intertubes
“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else.”
May 19th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
T Bone Pickens is a very smart man, an oil man no less, that gets it right nearly all of the time. His leadership in this area speaks volumes for how far we have come.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
A bad, bad man, eh? For what? Being successful? Sharing his wealth? What a horrible guy.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Self interest may misguide someone on what is right for the country but money is money regardless of politics!
July 8th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
why exactly is he a ‘bad bad man’?
July 11th, 2008 at 2:28 am
I have a major patented concept to help with our energy crisis and would like to introduce it to Mr. Pickens. Could you plesee provide me with a means of contact.
Thank You
Patrick F. Clark
941-955-2000
patclarkart@verizon.net
July 12th, 2008 at 4:12 am
T-Boone… You’re nothing but a self-centered capilist who will work the system to your own benefit regardless of how unethical it gets. DUH. You saw an opportunity… induldge asshole. It will be short lived!
July 16th, 2008 at 3:04 am
I am an electrician from the Gulf Coast and am curently working in California. I plan to go home soon with out a position to go to. I have been working in the oil refinerys for a long time. The mother of invention is nessity; we need to do something now. With all the oil CO;s making well into the BILLIONS in as little time as a quarty of a year. I hope you give them a good run for the money. I know that oil will not last forever and that it is not good in any way for the invironment. I wish you luck in the wind farms and know that it can’t be anything bot good.
Robert Allen
Richmond, Texas
July 20th, 2008 at 7:10 am
What happens when there is no wind? How does these wind farm help?
September 14th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I agree with T. Boone on wind energy 100%. I just wish he would put his resouces in getting with the auto makers and the big oil people into change automobiles over to hydrogen powered vehicle. I think the U.S. could have all the vehicles change over in 5 years with all the gaas pumps out of the U.S. in 10 years. If we convert over to natural gas it will only last 6 years, then people will not be able to heat their homes. The technology is out there for hydrogen powered automobiles, but for some reason BIG OIL is not listening to them.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
to dave…. there will always be wind… in fact global warming puts more water (through melting glaciers) into our weather system, creating larger and more frequent storms… thus, more wind…
and if this t-boone character wants to front $2 mil to start a wind farm in the oil-centric texas… GO FOR IT… i don’t see anyone else investing that much into renewable resources… if he makes a few bucks off of it, that’s capitalism for ya….
December 4th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Mr T-Bone has sucked all the money out of America with the fake high oil prices, help Iran to build it’s nuclear capability and now he sees the writing on the wall and wants to corner the alternative source markets. He doesn’t care one hoot about the environment or America and should not be supported by the very taxpayers he’s shafted.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I have contacted a local village about wind power generated electrical power. I have 44 1/2 acres available in that village and the Village President is excited about being on the cutting edge in Illinois. The property sits high and is surrounded by conservation or other business. A perfect location for wind turbines. The seller of the property likes the idea, the people in the area like the idea.
This one of the winder area in Illinois. All I need is someone that knows about wind generated power, someone to buy the land and develop it. Do you know of anyone that would like to do a project like this in McHenry County Illinois. If so, contract me and I” make the arrangement for them to meet with the Village, the owner of the land and what ever else they would require. Guy Stedman – 815-385-0611
April 5th, 2009 at 4:03 am
T. Bone Pickens is a bad bad man because he’s an oil man. He doesn’t care about any level of Environmental ramifications that may result from his actions. Wind Farms as it stands are very inefficient.
I would also like to clarify that increased storms due to Global Warming do not in fact provide more chances for energy. Occurence rises yes, but so does severity. Windmills max out at certain wind speeds, they are not built for high stress, and so would therefore produce less energy as a result of storms.
Solar is the future, it’s as simple as that.
July 12th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I would like to meet with Mr Pickens to show him a way that a Car can be built to run on almost nothing and wind is included Please provide a way to meet with Mr Pickens Thnaks and God Bless the USA
July 16th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
T. Boone is a bad man because he sells oil????? There are a lot of reasons to be considered bad, but that is not one of them. Every single person who posted to this against him is hypocritical. Fuel is not the only use of oil and you are using products from oil everyday. He’s capitalistic, true, and that is a VERY, VERY GOOD thing! The only ones who complain about capitalist are the ones who want someone else to pick up the tab so they can sit on their self-righteous butt. If oil was replaced with cleaner environmental safe products guess who would own it? Yup, it would be T. Boone because he is smart and productive. He spent 2 billion to start a wind farm,…shame on him for being so bad. He might be a bad man, but this is not the reason.
July 29th, 2009 at 7:26 am
Nice post. Looks like wind power is really starting to get some serious consideration in Australia now.