I enjoyed Mr. Pickens commentary on TV this morning. He is right; we need not fill the coffers of the oil rich any longer. The wind is free and available everywhere. The Federal Governmnet has property(not national parks) and miltary installations everywhere in the country. It would seem appropriate to use some of this property first, plus open spaces in the plains states,to build an expansive network or electrical grid that could be used to shift energy to the most critical areas i.e. commercial enterprises and then homes. There is no need for people in New England or other parts of the north to have to heat their homes and business with expensive and dirty oil heat. Furthermore, the Navy has succesfully used nuclear energy on many ships and subs for years. With modern technology there is every reason in the world to include nuclear power plants in this energy theme. These plants could also be built in "safe" areas and tied into the grid to either supplement or replace heavy carbon power generating stations throughout the country. Natural gas could help, but most of it is owned by the oil companies and "clean" burning coal facilities are an oxymoron. Virginia Power wants to build a 1.3 billion dollar plant in Wise County Va. This area is perfect for wind farming, nuclear,or natural gas, but certainly not coal, but politics are driving this movement.
As our nation and its inhabitants grow older we need to ensure future generations they won't be working solely for the oil producing countries in the middle east. Life is too precious to spend the day working to put more millions in millionaires pockets.
If the next president can start to fix this problem with these solutions, he'll go down in history as one of the greatest presidents ever.
Mr. Pickens
I just saw your commercial on CNN. Go Mr. Pickens! You have the influence and please keep representing me. We need to change our approach to energy. I am a professor at a nearby university here in Valparaiso, IN.
You have my utmost allegiance!