“A single wind turbine will generate enough energy to power up to 732 homes per year which is the equivalent of taking around 1,170 cars off the road annually.”

New South Wales, Australia Premier Nathan Rees after announcing the launch of Australia’s largest wind farm.

Clean Technology Investment Rebounds – WSJ.com – 7/1/09

Investment In Cleantech Picks Up – Forbes.com – 7/1/09

Power Alberta Company Actively Looking at Growing its Presence in Atlantic Canada and Plans to Expand Kent Hills Project by Bidding on NB Power’s Latest Request for Proposals – Telegraph Journal  - 7/2/09
 
Energy Independence in Our Backyard? – The Waukon Standard – 7/2/09
 
Venture Funding for Clean-Tech Rebounds – San Jose Mercury News – 7/1/09

Transportation Takes the Day in Cleantech Funding – BNET – 7/2/09

Cleantech Group: Green Investing Sees Uptick – CNET – 7/2/09

Cleantech Venture Funding Brightens for All But Solar – Xconomy – 7/1/09

Cleantech Investment Picks Up Again – The Business Insider – 7/1/09

Fearful Stocks for Greedy Investors – The Motley Fool – 7/1/09

T. Boone Pickens will be the guest on the popular Internet radio program, “The Green Revolution Show” at 11:00am (PST) on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Mr-Wayne

Mr. Wayne and Boone will talk about the upcoming Energy Independence Day - July 8, 2009. From the Mr. Wayne website:

It’s the best plan we have on the table, and quite frankly, the only plan. Boone has said himself, that a fool with a plan is better than a genius without a plan, and…we look like a fool without a plan.

Listen in and join the conversation as we talk with T. Boone Pickens and hear how the 1-year anniversary of the Pickens Plan will be celebrated, and what exciting things lie ahead for America and her Energy Independence!

Tune in on your computer today at 11 am Pacific Daylight Time. The The Green Revolution Show.

– The Pickens Team

Compared to gasoline, propane yields 12 percent less carbon dioxide, about 20 percent less nitrous oxide, and as much as 60 percent less carbon monoxide.

Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Chris Benge and AT&T have announced that AT&T is going to deploy 30 vans running on compressed natural gas for its Oklahoma fleet.

Remember, in March, AT&T announced it was going to replace 8,000 of its domestic fleet with vehicles running on natural gas over the next few years.

AT&T recognizes that natural gas is an excellent replacement for imported gasoline and diesel. Recent studies have shown we have natural gas reserves in the United States which will last for 118 years.

The 30 vehicles, which will run on CNG, represent 10 percent of AT&T’s fleet in Oklahoma. This is the result of the State Legislature of Oklahoma providing incentives for companies and individuals to make better use of domestic fuels rather than using imported oil.

The number of jobs which will be created by up-fitting vehicles to run on domestic resources, plus the jobs in the production, distribution and fueling facilities for natural gas, will be a great net benefit to the State of Oklahoma.

It’s important to note that this is a further sign that America’s business and political leaders recognize that we have an abundance of natural gas, and this cleaner-burning American resource can be put to work to displace foreign oil/diesel/gasoline and offset that threat to our national security and economy.

In fact, as Boone has said, “On an equivalency basis, the study shows we have more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil. In fact, if the study is right, and you have to assume it is, we have more natural gas reserves than any other country. It’s time to put it to work as a critical bridge fuel in transportation.”

The Pickens Plan Army should be proud to take some of the credit for helping to create an environment that allows legislatures to look at our energy supplies in new ways and come up with creative solutions to our dependence on foreign oil.

Reactions to the Energy Bill: Obama, Cleantech Biz, Environmentalists – Earth2Tech – 6/29/09

Gray Construction Tapped for Automotive Project – Lexington Herald-Leader – 6/29/09

Charleston Gaz: COMMENTARY: ; Report of Coal’s Death Premature – Charleston Gazette – 6/30/09

For the past year, the New Energy Army has been working hard to push for American energy independence. The Army is the reason the Pickens Plan is going to become a reality!

July 8, 2009 is the 1 year anniversary of our campaign – we’re calling it Energy Independence Day. To celebrate, we want to give you – the Army – the opportunity to show everyone what you’re doing in your area to push the Pickens Plan.

We’re launching a video contest. For this contest, we want you to get together with other members of the army in your Congressional District and put together a short video about what you’re doing locally to push the Pickens Plan.

You can highlight any activity you want – members of your District Group signing up new members at a local grocery store, meetings with elected officials, making phone calls and writing letters to Congress, appearing on local talk radio, or hosting a rally in front of your state capitol. Whatever your District Group is doing to fight for energy independence…we want to know about it and we want it on video!

We are also encouraging you, the Army, to host rallies on July 8 – Energy Independence Day – so that on one coordinated day, Members of Congress across the nation will hear our voices and know that we demand an energy plan – now!

The best videos will be featured on the PickensPlan.com homepage and Daily Pickens blog.

To enter your video in the contest:

1. Shoot a 3-5 minute video with other members of the New Energy Army in your area.
2. Upload your video to http://push.pickensplan.com/video/video/new and tag it “anniversary”.
3. Once the video has been uploaded, email a link to the video to myenergy@pickensplan.com.
4. Be sure to post your video on your District Group page and share it with your friends!

All video entries must be submitted by 5 pm EDT on July 17, 2009.

Have fun and good luck!

The Palm Desert, CA, city council has approved the purchase of a natural gas-powered ambulance, becoming the first city in the country to use such an ambulance, and has applied for federal funds to purchase even more natural gas-powered vehicles to add to its fleet.

There are so many simple steps we can take right away.
I just met with [Energy] Secretary Chu and was talking with him about mail trucks. I said, “Why aren’t mail trucks utilizing either natural gas or fuel cell technology? Let’s pilot those. Let’s get them out there.”

Converting one refuse truck from diesel to natural gas is the equivalent of taking as many as 325 cars off the road in terms of pollution reduction. 

Some people will say, “It’s a little costly.” 
It is not as costly as continuing to export our dollars abroad. It’s not as costly as filling up the coffers of our enemies.

Isn’t that incredible? We’re funding both sides of the War on Terrorism?
Thomas Freidman makes a great point. He said we have an energy policy that essentially should be called “Leave No Mullah Behind.” We end up not only exporting dollars abroad, but then the madrasas take the money and send that to train terrorists and to vomit hate about America. So we have to fund our troops, export the dollars abroad, and then we’re providing the money for the mullahs to send the money to the terrorists. What sense does that make?

The point is there’s not a single answer. There are many.
As Boone says, whether it’s natural gas, whether it’s wind, whether it’s photovoltaic, whether it’s geothermal, whether it’s fuel cells, whether it’s drilling, whether it’s clean coal, nuclear - we’re going to need everything. Let’s just get the job done on behalf of the American people. 

I gather you’re bringing that message to Hartford.
That’s right. We’re looking forward to welcoming Boone to Connecticut for a Pickens Plan town hall meeting this summer. Afterwards, I’m even going to spring and bring T. Boone to Augie and Ray’s in East Hartford. He’ll love an old hot dog joint like Augie and Ray’s.

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED, CONDENSED, AND EDITED BY ERIC O’KEEFE

Researchers at the University of Texas Arlington have succeeded in producing Texas intermediate-quality crude oil from lignite, an abundant and cheap variety of coal. Their discovery, which was reported in Sunday’s Dallas Morning News, is a major step toward converting the country’s enormous coal reserves into a transportation fuel and reducing the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

By using relatively inexpensive microrefineries that cost $5 million a piece (versus the $800 million to $6 billion cost for a traditional refinery), the researchers’ believe they can generate two barrels of oil from each ton of lignite. With lignite forecast to cost $12 to $14 a ton, this equates to $35 a barrel oil.

According to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, the United States has the world’s largest known coal reserves, about 263.8 billion short tons. This is enough coal to last approximately 225 years at today’s level of use. In 2006, the amount of coal produced at U.S. coal mines reached an all-time high. Coal is mined in 27 states. Wyoming mines the most, followed by West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The largest lignite deposits can be found in Texas and the Dakotas.

T. Boone Pickens will be on the popular CNN Sunday show, State of the Nation with John King this Sunday at 12:40 pm Eastern. Boone will be on the influential “Last Word” segment which is followed very closely by opinion leaders in Washington, DC.

On Monday, Boone will be on the Imus in the Morning radio program at 8:30 AM Eastern time. Imus is simulcast on the RFD cable network, so check your local radio and cable listings.

– The Pickens Team

Hey Army!

We’ve been marching together for a long time, and July 8 will mark the one-year anniversary of the Pickens Plan and the first celebration of Energy Independence Day.

Before we started you wouldn’t have found very many people who understood why natural gas is so important to our economy, our environment and our national security.  Now almost everyone understands why we need to use domestic natural gas as a replacement for imported diesel and gasoline.

Last spring and summer no one talked about – much less understood – “the transfer of wealth” which is being caused by our dependence on foreign oil.  Now that phrase is used by almost every columnist and editorial writer on the subject of energy.

Until we started marching for the Pickens Plan, no one paid attention to the monthly oil import numbers. Now, when we release the amount of oil we imported the previous month and how much we paid for it, newspapers all over America pick it up and tell their readers how dangerous our energy situation is.

Last July, oil prices were at record highs, but no one had a plan to lower our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. Since then we have made foreign oil not only part of the discussion around dinner tables all over America but also with policy and decision makers in our nation’s capital.

In Congress, there had been legislation which addressed pieces of our energy supply; but since the Pickens Plan there have been major incentives introduced or adopted to enhance the use of wind, solar, and natural gas as domestic renewable energy resources for America.

This July 8 will mark the one-year anniversary of our fight.  Most people told me it would take years to even make a dent in the issue of imported oil.  We’ve come a long, long way in one year.  Over the next few months we have the opportunity to push the remaining pieces of the Pickens Plan through Congress.

As I have been for the past year, I’ll be at the front, holding the battle flag, leading the charge. Over the next few weeks, we’re really going to celebrate our first-anniversary.  Keep checking your e-mails and going to the website for exciting new videos and announcements!
Thank you for joining me.

– Boone

Propane offers fleet operators distinct economic advantages over conventional fuels. The Battelle Memorial Institute found that propane is the most economical alternative fuel for fleets (on a per-mile basis) when operating, ownership, and infrastructure costs are all taken into consideration.