Free Republic

In the salons of the coastal elites, it is a given wisdom that renewable energy sources are “the answer” - the answer to perceived climate change, the answer to our foreign oil dependency, the answer to how to feel good about yourself…the Answer. In Washington, politicians can’t throw tax breaks at people and businesses fast enough, prodding them to install all manner of solar, wind, and geothermal devices. Indeed, these energy sources are seductive. The wind blows, it’s free. Harnessing it, while not free, is certainly clean. Good stuff. The sun shines on us, why not use it? And so...

Good times could be coming for T. Boone Pickens' Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE - News), but according to Barron's that doesn't mean you should be buying it. When it comes to the trucking industry, the case for natural gas is a strong one. At recent prices of less than 50 cents per gasoline gallon equivalent, nat gas is a steal compared to diesel, and Pickens has put significant emphasis on eradicating American dependence on foreign oil. Barron's notes that about $8,000 in upgrades are required before a truck can run on the fuel, but the industry is hopeful for...

The energy investor, who made wind power a key part of his plan to wean Americans off foreign oil, said Tuesday he will now take delivery of 300 turbines, which he will use for wind farms in Canada and Minnesota. None of the turbines will come to Texas, as originally planned. Meanwhile, Pickens continues his campaign to persuade Americans to use natural gas to fuel heavy trucks, rather than diesel. Doing so, he said, could cut Middle East oil imports in half. In May 2008, Pickens announced that his company, Mesa Power LP, would order 687 wind turbines, or 1,000...

Energy: New drilling techniques may open up a 14-year supply of natural gas trapped in porous rock in the Northeast. That is, if environmentalists in New York and elsewhere don't keep it trapped in the ground.Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels, so clean that it is a key part of oilman T. Boone Pickens' plan to wean us off foreign sources of energy. Natural gas can fuel a new generation of automobiles that would help us achieve energy independence and at the same time contribute to a cleaner planet. In the northeastern U.S., there is a massive...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed to bring the Obama-Waxman-Markey (OWM) anti-global warming cap-and-trade energy bill to the floor for a final vote Friday, which raises an interesting question: How much money will Pelosi make if the measure becomes law, as seems quite likely? Pelosi, of course, is not the only member of Congress to own significant shares of energy companies. Senators and representatives from all over the country do, not just the "oilies" from energy states like Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. But as House Speaker, Pelosi's ownership of an unknown number of shares in the Clean Energy Fuels Corp....

While being interviewed by ABC News’ Jake Tapper, potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) admitted that Cheney and Limbaugh’s leadership probably isn’t good for the Republican Party. He said that Limbaugh is one of those leaders, “who have had more than their share of time at a front-row seat.” Here is the audio courtesy of Think Progress: When asked if Cheney’s upfront role was good for the GOP, Sanford said, “Probably isn’t…Everybody needs a rest from any of us in the world of politics. It’s why I am such a proponent of term limits. For a republic...

“Texas is the nation’s leader in wind energy thanks to our long-term commitment to bolstering renewable energy sources and diversifying the state’s energy portfolio.”- Rick Perry, Texas Governor “Our representatives [in the Texas Legislature] now have less than six weeks to pass the best of nearly 100 bills that have been introduced on clean power and green jobs. These energy efficiency and renewable energy bills set the stage for rebuilding, repowering and renewing our state’s economy during tough times. They will build a sustainable future for Texas.”- Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, Public Citizen As reported by Russell Gold...

T. Boone Pickens looks tired. Standing in the sunken pit of a packed lecture hall at Houston's Rice University, he's hawking his Pickens Plan for energy independence, saying we need to use more wind power and natural gas. The 80-year-old, with flesh-colored hearing aids set deep inside his ears and tanned bags drooping under his eyes, looks confused and momentarily loses track of what he's saying. He pauses, takes off his gold Rolex, slumps down on a stool and announces in his trademark drawl, "I'm runnin' out of money." (Which, for Pickens, means he's still got untold millions, possibly billions,...

Just finished watching Larry King with T. Boone Pickens and his new dear, dear friend John Podesta. Been seeing his ads popping up again this evening as well. He told Larry he had an hour long interview with The One this afternoon and he said he was encouraged. With the Clinton consiglieries in his pocket I'd say it was a done deal already.

Energy Policy: Obama announces his energy team without mentioning a green source of renewable energy that could create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and reinvigorate a vital manufacturing sector — nuclear power.The domestic auto industry isn't the only uncompetitive industry that seems to require life-sustaining transfusions of government cash to stay in business. Alternative energy sources have relied on such subsidies, called "investments," for years. Yet in President-elect Obama's announcement of his energy team, we were told "the foundations of our energy independence" lie in "the power of wind and solar." Except that for these alternative sources there's been a severe...

Outspent 130 to 1, No on 10 Campaign Stops Oil Tycoon's Money Grab The No on Proposition 10 campaign claims an early landslide victory as election night results from throughout California indicate a lopsided defeat of T Boone Pickens' ballot measure. "California voters didn't fall for a Texas oil tycoon's $10 billion money grab, no matter how much he spent camouflaging it as green," stated Richard Holober, spokesman for the No on Prop 10 campaign, and Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California. "Proposition 10 is the ultimate example of a wealthy special interest abusing the ballot initiative process...

Reporting from Sacramento -- California's ballot is often crowded with measures known as citizen initiatives. But many of the citizens whose causes will come before voters Tuesday are not everyday Californians. International financier George Soros wants to change drug laws. Computer technology titan Henry T. Nicholas III -- who has been indicted on federal fraud and drug charges -- is pushing two measures seeking tougher penalties for criminals and expanded rights for victims. Oilman turned alternative-fuels investor T. Boone Pickens is pushing subsidies for cars that run on substances other than oil. And Peter Sperling, one of the founders of...

What if Obama axes his current VP choice and replaces him with T.Boone Pickens?

Click link above and check out the CNBC Squawk Box segment from 08-08-08.

Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens is about to make a killing by selling water he doesn’t own. As he does it, it will be praised as a planet-friendly wind project. The basic story amounts to this: Pickens, thanks to favors from state lawmakers whose campaigns he funded, has created a new government whose only voters are two of his employers; this has empowered Pickens to more cheaply pump water from an aquifer and, by use of eminent domain, seize land across 11 counties in order to pipe the water to Dallas. To win environmentalist approval of this hardly “sustainable”...

Federal authorities may unravel a tiny Panhandle government with far-reaching powers. The U.S. Department of Justice blocked changes to Texas law that last fall helped create the board of the Roberts County Fresh Water Supply District, a body dominated by employees of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens. Losing the district's authority could complicate Pickens' most visible means so far of running pipeline and power line infrastructure across the state. Jay Rosser, spokesman for Pickens' Mesa Water, said the decision as Mesa officials understood it did little to change the board or plans to move massive water and wind energy resources...

The more you learn about T. Boone Pickens’ plan to switch America to wind power, the more you realize that he seems willing to say and do just about anything to make another billion or two.

SAGINAW - T-Boone Pickens says they're the wave of the future. But a wind turbine meant to save one Saginaw family on electricity has instead sparked a huge headache for their neighbors. "It makes a terrible air raid noise," says Debbie Behrens, about the high-pitched whine made by the turbine. "It's driving me crazy." What's worse, is that Debbie and her son Lance both say that high-pitched hum is now causing them problems, physically. "You occasionally have the dizziness," explains Lance, "The ringing in the ears, I've never experienced the ringing in the ears." It turns out, there is a...

Mayor Bloomberg is proposing a "green" plan that has the potential to drastically change the New York City skyline and shores. It's part of his effort to make New York the most energy efficient city in the nation. The mayor's "windmill power plan" is the boldest environmental proposal yet from the billionaire independent, who has been trying to make energy efficiency a legacy of his administration. Speaking at a major conference on alternative energy Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Bloomberg proposed putting windmills on top of city bridges, and skyscrapers, and turbines in the Hudson and East Rivers. In terms...

As the members of the MSM continue to beat the drums for “renewable” energy, and T. Boone Pickens promises pie-in-the-sky free energy from windmills the corruption surrounding Green Energy is beginning to be revealed. Literally hundreds of billions of dollars are involved and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is only the latest to be found with her hand in the cookie jar. Here’s the unvarnished truth: the world has been getting most of its energy from fossil fuels for over a century. During the 20th century we began to see the use of nuclear energy. In the US that path to...