TOPEKA, Kan. — Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens acknowledged Wed nesday that a plan he’s pushing to use more wind power and natural gas to replace foreign oil is expensive but said it’s still cheaper than importing fuel.
His message in the first of his dozen planned town-hall meetings in Great Plains states was simple: America is addicted to foreign oil, and that must change. He told a crowd of about 750 people that the U.S. imported 24 percent of its oil in 1970 and now imports 70 percent, at an annual cost of $700 billion.
His next session is Wednesday in Lamar, and other dates and locations are being worked out.
Pickens’ plan calls for erecting wind turbines in the Midwest to generate electricity, replacing the 22 percent of U.S. power produced from natural gas. The freed-up natural gas then could be used to power vehicles now reliant on gasoline and diesel.
He estimates the cost at $1 trillion to build the turbines in a wind-swept corridor from the Texas Panhandle through western Kansas to North Dakota.
“Anything we do is cheap compared to what we pay out for foreign oil,” Pickens said. “We are very close to a disaster for this country, and we have to move as fast as we can.”
He’s spending $58 million to promote his “Pickens Plan” via TV commercials and public meetings. Pickens said politics also must play a role and that Democratic and Republican presidential candidates must come up with answers.
“This has got to stop. We can put together an army to (put) pressure on Congress to stop the $700 billion,” he said.
