T. Boone Pickens needs to find homes for 687 giant wind turbines after calling off plans for his huge wind farm project in Texas.

Pickens Calls Off Massive Wind Farm in Texas

from the AP

By JOHN PORRETTO, AP Energy Writer John Porretto, Ap Energy Writer – Tue Jul 7, 5:29 pm ET

HOUSTON – Plans for the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he’s looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines.

Pickens has already ordered the turbines, which can stand 400 feet tall — taller than most 30-story buildings.

“When I start receiving those turbines, I’ve got to … like I said, my garage won’t hold them,” the legendary Texas oilman said. “They’ve got to go someplace.”

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In Texas, the problem lies in getting power from the proposed site in the Panhandle to a distribution system, Pickens said in an interview with The Associated Press in New York. He’d hoped to build his own transmission lines but he said there were technical problems.

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Renewable energy provides a small fraction of electricity used today, but the wind and solar sectors are the fastest growing in the U.S. In 2008, the U.S. became the world’s leading provider of wind power.

Like most industries around the world, the recession has hurt wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm developers. Companies have shelved development plans and laid off workers.

Check out the video HERE.

I just came across White House Farmer…

The site was developed soon after Michael Pollan (one of my favorite authors) of

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

and

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto

suggested the White House develop five south acres for growing fruits and vegetables for the First Family and staff. Farmer in Chief was an open letter to the then President-Elect, published in the New York Times Magazine.

There is no way that I can do justice to the article by writing a synopsis, so I will include a very small exerpt…..

“After cars, the food system uses more fossil fuel than any other sector of the economy — 19 percent. And while the experts disagree about the exact amount, the way we feed ourselves contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than anything else we do — as much as 37 percent, according to one study. Whenever farmers clear land for crops and till the soil, large quantities of carbon are released into the air. But the 20th-century industrialization of agriculture has increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the food system by an order of magnitude; chemical fertilizers (made from natural gas), pesticides (made from petroleum), farm machinery, modern food processing and packaging and transportation have together transformed a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food. Put another way, when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis — a process based on making food energy from sunshine. There is hope and possibility in that simple fact.”

Okay, so here I was cutting articles from the newspaper for Hais’ senior scrapbook and what did I find? A API story written by Jeff Karoub titled Discouraged words: One sees red over “green”! The title caught my attention, then I perused to find an inset titled ENOUGH ALREADY! with this:

Lake Superior State University’s 2009 list of bannished words: 

• green
• carbon footprint or carbon offsetting
• maverick
• first dude bailout
• Wall Street/Main Street
• monkey
• 3 (Emoticon for “heart” used in text messages and email.) 
• icon or iconic
• game changer
• staycation
• desperate search
• not so much
• winner of five nominations
• It’s that time of year again

    –The Associated Press

Looking for the actual story online (so I could link to it) only provided me with LSSU’s actual release on their website. LSSU issues 34th annual List of Words to be Bannished  was released online on December 31 under the university’s Campus News.  Though I consider this a parody of sorts, I am disappointed at some of the environment/ecological choices added.

{snip}

“Environmental buzzwords are getting the axe this year.
“Green” and “going green” received the most nominations.

GREEN – The ubiquitous ‘Green’ and all of its variables, such as ‘going green,’ ‘building green,’ ‘greening,’ ‘green technology,’ ‘green solutions’ and more, drew the most attention from those who sent in nominations this year.

“This phrase makes me go green every time I hear it.” Danielle Brunin, Lawrence, Kansas.

“I’m all for being environmentally responsible, but this ‘green’ needs to be nipped in the bud.” Valerie Gilson, Gales Ferry, Conn.

“Companies are less ‘green’ than ever, advertising the fact they are ‘green.’ Is anyone buying this nonsense?” Mark Etchason, Denver, Colo.

“If something is good for the environment, just say so. As Kermit would say, ‘It isn’t easy being green.’” Kevin Sherlock, Hiawatha, Iowa.

“If I see one more corporation declare itself ‘green,’ I’m going to start burning tires in my backyard.” Ed Hardiman, Bristow, Va.

“This spawned ‘green solutions,’ ‘green technology,’ and the horrible use of the word as a verb, as in, ‘We really need to think about greening our office.’” Mike McDermott, Philadelphia, Penn.

CARBON FOOTPRINT or CARBON OFFSETTING – “It is now considered fashionable for everyone, tree hugger or lumberjack alike, to pay money to questionable companies to ‘offset’ their own ‘carbon footprint.’ What a scam! Get rid of it immediately!” Ginger Hunt, London, England.

Mike of Chicago says that when he hears the phrase ‘carbon footprint,’ “I envision microscopic impressions on the surface of the earth where an atom of carbon forgot to wear its shoes.”

Christy Loop of Woodbridge, Va., says that ‘leaving a carbon footprint’ has become the new ‘politically incorrect.’ “How can we not, in one way or another, affect our natural environment?”

Presidential election years are always ripe for language abuse. This year, the electorate grew weary of ‘mavericks’ and ’super delegates.’ As Michael W. Casby of Haslett, Mich. said, when he suggested banning all of the candidates’ names, “Come on, it’s been another too-long campaign season.”"

{snip}

“STAYCATION – “Occurrences of this word are going up with gas prices.’Vacation’ does not mean ‘travel,’ nor does travel always involve vacation. Let’s send this word on a slow boat to nowhere.” Dan Muldoon, Omaha, Neb.

“The cost of petrol forces many families to curtail their summer voyages and a new word has sprung, idiotic and rootless…” Michele Mooney, Los Angeles, Calif.”

Can you say “Bozo”?

ENOUGH SAID!

 ♦

I’m from Texas, so when T. Boone Pickens begins talking about our need to find alternative energy, I listen. T. Boone Pickens is a name synonomous with oil. He was one of the first independent oilmen to build his oil empire on aquisitions rather than complete dependence on exploration.

According to Wikipedia….

Pickens has begun speaking out on the issue of peak oil, claiming that world oil production is about to enter a period of irrevocable decline. He has called for the construction of more nuclear power plants, the use of natural gas to power the country’s transportation systems, and the promotion of alternative energy. Pickens’ involvement with the natural gas fueling campaign is long-running. He formed Pickens Fuel Corp. in 1997 and began touting natural gas as the best vehicular fuel alternative because it’s a domestic resource that, among many advantages, is clean (Natural Gas Vehicles or NGVs emit up to 30% less pollution than gasoline or diesel vehicles) and reduces foreign oil consumption. Reincorporated as Clean Energy in 2001, the company now owns and operates natural gas fueling stations from British Columbia to the Mexican border.

Now, this push toward alternative energy and reduced dependence on foreign oil may boost his bottom line,  but I think that his powerful message will be heard around the world.
Commercials, banners, and more information can be found at PickensPlan.

There are also several videos located at YouTube as well.

Last night after dinner, our favorite restaurant owner and I were talking about the price of fuel and its effects on his industry. He mentioned that he did not understand why gasoline was so much cheaper in Mexico, stating that it was only $2.50 per gallon. I thought maybe he was just  misinformed, because I thought the fuel economy was a global thing….well except for oil rich nations that shall remain unnamed. After searching a bit, I see current fuel prices somewhere around $3.50 a gallon. (I am quoting USD here, so we can get past the math.) Several sources mentioned that fuel was about a dollar less a gallon in Mexico than here in the United States. After reading around, I discover that their fuel is government subsidized/controlled. Hmmmmm.

In my search, I also found an interesting blog written by a trucker in Mexico, who has written an article, Go South for Cheap Gas?