Slim Pickens T -Boone's Islamic WORLD!

As to the Energy Solution for the USA,  T. Boone Pickens has a reasonable solution he has been touting on Air and on PickensPlan.com Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains states are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — He suggests using Natural Gas powered cars, trucks and buses which burn cleaner than gasoline/diesel powered cars and is a resource that the US leads the world in.  Wind farms built along the wind corridors running between Canada and Texas could help offset the dependence on natural gas power plants to the tune of 20% and it is sustainable as long as the air is blowing.  Pickens suggest that we us the model that Dwight D. Eisenhower used to build the US Interstate system.   I like this plan as it is a plausible and is a practical approach to a solution for our energy needs.  In addition, I suggest we borrow from Brazil's strategy which has made amazing strides in making itself energy independent since the Oil Embargo days of the 1970's.  Their Flex Fuel cars rely on Ethanol from Sugar Cane which yields more ethanol than corn.  Flex Cars can run on Gas, Ethanol and a Mixture of both aka Gasohol.  Flexible fuel vehicles are made by Chevrolet, Ford, Fiat, Peugeot, Renault ,Volkswagen, Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Citröen.  Additionally we already build  Bi-fuel vehicles which are have internal combustion engines designed to run multiple fuels and have separate tanks to house the juice. One fuel is typically gasoline and the other fuel is commonly natural gas but can also be propane. Natural Gas Vehicles include American made Ford Contour, Chevrolet Cavalier, Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, F250.  Don't forget Nuclear Power like France uses too.  Oh yes and drill in ANWAR and on our Continental Shelf.  Basically we need to Use boots and Suspenders, America !     See PickensPlans.com The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power.   Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains states are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far. The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America's electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country. Today's wind turbines stand up to 410 feet tall, with blades that stretch 148 feet in length. The blades collect the wind's kinetic energy. In one year, a 3-megawatt wind turbine produces as much energy as 12,000 barrels of imported oil. Wind power currently accounts for 48 billion kWh of electricity a year in the United States — enough to serve more than 4.5 million households. That is still only about 1% of current demand, but the potential of wind is much greater. A 2005 Stanford University study found that there is enough wind power worldwide to satisfy global demand 7 times over — even if only 20% of wind power could be captured. Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns. That's a lot of money, but it's a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it's a bargain. An economic revival for rural America. Developing wind power is an investment in rural America. To witness the economic promise of wind energy, look no further than Sweetwater, Texas. Sweetwater was typical of many small towns in middle-America. With a shortage of good jobs, the youth of Sweetwater were leaving in search of greater opportunities. And the town's population dropped from 12,000 to under 10,000. When a large wind power facility was built outside of town, Sweetwater experienced a revival. New economic opportunity brought the town back to life and the population has grown back up to 12,000. In the Texas panhandle, just north of Sweetwater, is the town of Pampa, where T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Power is currently building the largest wind farm in the world. At 4,000 megawatts — the equivalent combined output of four large coal-fire plants — the production of the completed Pampa facility will double the wind energy output of the United States. In addition to creating new construction and maintenance jobs, thousands of Americans will be employed to manufacture the turbines and blades. These are high skill jobs that pay on a scale comparable to aerospace jobs. Plus, wind turbines don't interfere with farming and grazing, so they don't threaten food production or existing local economies. A cheap new replacement for foreign oil. The Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle is the cleanest internal-combustion vehicle in the world according to the EPA. Natural gas and bio-fuels are the only domestic energy sources used for transportation. Cleaner Natural gas is the cleanest transportation fuel available today. According to the California Energy Commission, critical greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 23% lower than diesel and 30% lower than gasoline. Natural gas vehicles (NGV) are already available and combine top performance with low emissions. The natural gas Honda Civic GX is rated as the cleanest production vehicle in the world. According to NGVAmerica, there are more than 7 million NGVs in use worldwide, but only 150,000 of those are in the United States. The EPA estimates that vehicles on the road account for 60% of carbon monoxide pollution and around one-third of hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions in the United States. As federal and state emissions laws become more stringent, many requirements will be unattainable with conventionally fueled vehicles. Since natural gas is significantly cleaner than petroleum, NGVs are increasing in popularity. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently announced that 16,800 old diesel trucks will be replaced, and half of the new vehicles will run on alternatives such as natural gas. Cheaper Natural gas is significantly less expensive than gasoline or diesel. In places like Utah and Oklahoma, prices are less than $1 a gallon. To see fueling stations and costs in your area, check out cngprices.com. Domestic Natural gas is our country's second largest energy resource and a vital component of our energy supply. 98% of the natural gas used in the United States is from North America. But 70% of our oil is purchased from foreign nations. Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful forms of energy — residentially, commercially and industrially. The natural gas industry has existed in the United States for over 100 years and continues to grow. Domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of petroleum. And new discoveries of natural gas and ongoing development of renewable biogas are continually adding to existing reserves. While it is a cheap, effective and versatile fuel, less than 1% of natural gas is currently used for transportation. The Mechanics We currently use natural gas to produce 22% of our electricity. Harnessing the power of wind to generate electricity will give us the flexibility to shift natural gas away from electricity generation and put it to use as a transportation fuel — reducing our dependence on foreign oil by more than one-third. How do we get it done? The Pickens Plan is a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buy us time to develop even greater new technologies. Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years. But it will take leadership. On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office. We're organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration. Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America's energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability. You can start changing America's future today by supporting the Pickens Plan. Join now.