T. Boone to the Rescue…

After a meeting today of the G8 and leading developing countries, the two groups finally said they shared a “joint vision” for action on climate change. But the statement made no mention of any specific target for cutting emissions, and gave no baseline date from when the cuts might begin.

Yesterday the G8 called for a 50% cut in global emissions by 2050. But China and India made it clear, however, that they were not willing to sign up to the G8’s target, and believe the G8 should shoulder most of the burden for tackling climate change.

Thousands of miles away, legendary Texas oilman, and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens, has just entered the debate in the US about how to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, with a a plan that would also have an impact on America’s CO2 emissions.

T. Boone may be an oilman through and through, but he recognizes that the days of oil are numbered. Writing in today’s Wall Street Journal. T.Boone says: “I’m 80 years old and I’ve been an oilman for almost 60 years. I’ve drilled more dry holes and also found more oil than just about anyone in the industry. With all my experience, I’ve never been as worried about our energy security as I am now.”
Pickens calls America’s growing dependence on foreign oil extreme and dangerous, which “threatens the future of our nation.” He points out that in 1973, the year of the infamous oil embargo, the United States imported about 24% of our oil. In 1990, at the start of the first Gulf War, this was 42%. Today, America imports almost 70% of our oil.
Essentially Picken’s plan is to replace Middle Eastern oil with Midwestern wind. “Wind is 100% domestic, it is 100% renewable and it is 100% clean. Did you know that the midsection of this country, that stretch of land that starts in West Texas and reaches all the way up to the border with Canada, is called the “Saudi Arabia of the Wind”? It gets that name because we have the greatest wind reserves in the world.”
Pickens points to a 2008 study by the Department of Energy issued a study that stated that the U.S. has the capacity to generate 20% of its electricity supply from wind by 2030.
Pickens would then taking the energy generated by wind and using it to replace a significant percentage of the natural gas that is now being used to fuel power plants. He would then use gas to fuel the nation’s transport fleet.

Pickens believes his plan could be implemented within ten years, given the political will. You can see more of his plan here;

And then tell us what you think …