This is great but needs to happen. Not just talk.

As a welder who has been out of work since march, how do I get in touch with the companies you're working with to help build more windmills?

I think Sen. Obama's proposal is good, and it's encouraging that he's open to wind and solar. However, I recently wrote my representative in Congress re: the Plan, and he wrote back saying "wind is not the final answer" (which is obvious). He did not indicate support of the Plan. Instead, he said we must have a "comprehensive" energy bill that includes renewables, oil drilling, nuclear, new transportation fuels, etc., etc. The problem is: If we must have >everythinganythingnothing<. The PickensPlan is a reasonable first step toward something else. If we put this off until Washington reaches agreement about all the other aspects of energy... well, if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got. By the way, the biggest problem with the Plan is "transmission corridors" -- aka The Grid. See the article in the Wed., 8/27 New York Times. Go to www.nytimes.com/energychallenge for articles. Grid problems are making it difficult to develop wind farms in many states.

I am sorry but we have to start somewhere. The Pickens Plan was never the final answer and Mr Pickens never said it was. It is a start. It is more then any of them are doing now. I am sick and tired of the government sitting on their asses and doing nothing while we pay for oil to another country. We ( the public) is out of work and out of luck. This is the best idea I have heard of in a LOOOOONG time and the Grid is the only issue. I say go for it and then we can move on to other ideas. We have to take the FIRST step to take the NEXT step or we will never move.

talk is cheap and that's what washington does best. the rest of us have got walk the walk. The only thing the politicians understand are votes. If we stand together and put the pressure on, we CAN make a difference. Recruit your family and friends, tell them to contact their Reps and senators. Put on the pressure!! Otherwise just sit back,accept your fate and don't complain.

I believe The Pickens Plan is a very good concept, and will work if implemented properly. I do not however, believe Sen. Obama is the right man for the job. Thus far in his campaign, he has come across as nothing more than a bag of hot air. His promises of "change" are yet to be described in any detail. I don't mind change, but I can't offer any support to someone who refuses to openly state what exactly that "change" will consist of. In this particular speech, he has obviously attempted to collect votes from the Pickens Plan enthusiasts, but I just can't shake the feeling that he was dangling a carrot to lure us into whatever it is he REALLY has planned (if anything).

Why do we have to wait for the Government to act? Obama or McCain... does it really matter? The feds will take an eternity to accomplish this and neither candidate will be able to deliver the speed that is needed. (It took them 15 years of debating to establish new standards for collecting race

As I was saying... why wait for the government to act? The economics of Oil are changing... these alternatives are becoming much more viable so why isn't the energy industry investing those record billions in profits into the infrastructure that will be their bread and butter over the next 50 years?

I firmly believe that this is the best plan going forward and needs to be implemented. Yes, the grid is faultering but the money saved as stated in the video from not buying foreign oil can be reinvested in upgrading the grid infrastructure. Folks, we are at the precipice of a very important juncture regarding global warming. We do not know the exact tipping point of not being able to repair what we as a species have done to our planet. But what we do know is that we need to stop using oil and coal as our fuel sources and this plan is a very good beginning.

This Country definitely needs to begin now. What concerns me about Sen. Obama's speech is that he says “As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves... " Shouldn't he be encouraging entrepreneurs and private business to do this? Encourage the people who understand the process. It is the hard working people of this country that will make this happen, not one person. Another point Sen. Obama says ... "I’ll invest $150 billion over the next ten years in renewable sources of energy.” The President can not spend one cent. Congress authorizes the spending. Doesn't the money belong to the taxpayers, not Mr. Obama? History shows that when there is a market for something, that will drive the change, let private business accomplish it, and the Government should get out of the way.

This is real and you can help Ever heard of the Bakken Formation? Search for it. GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind. http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911 Then. Not satisfied try “Gull Island Alaska” in a search engine (YAHOO or GOOGLE) Or use the address below http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/gull_island_oil.html Want more, check out. “pickensplan.com” for more information and/or Want to help “pushpickensplan.com” if you want to help T. Boone Perkins who donated 164 Million to Oklahoma State’s Athletic Program, they won today by the way, over Washington State He is also is putting up 78 million to help us wake up the government.

OK, it’s obvious that many of you were persuaded by the great Obama. But can any of you tell me exactly what “change” he proposes? Don’t forget, it’s the Liberal Democrats that refuse to allow drilling in the sacred ANWR fields, even though it amounts to the same area as LAX airport, or the OCS, or pretty much anywhere for that matter. And I remind you that even after President Bush lifted the ban on OCS drilling, the Dems still refuse to. So He is going to do what? The answer is nothing. They talk the talk, but won’t walk the walk.

I think Mr. Pickens plan is wonderful and full of good solid planning for America's future. It will not only make us independent of any other country but will keep the good paying jobs here in the good old USA for our own people. What I would also like to know is it possible for the little guy to buy shares and if so how or where do we go to find out about it

I believe that the Pickens Plan reflects a major shift in mindset that it absolutely critical to the future of this country. It also reflects the thinking of just about everyone I know (of all political persuasions): for an energy policy, we need to be using all kinds of power sources. As one of the other commentators noted, however, nothing will happen if we just talk. Mr. Pickens has begun to act in a dramatic way. The rest of us cannot act on that grand a scale, but we can do what we can do. For instance, in Greensboro, NC where I live, several members of my church now are biking to church. My wife and I bike to work a fair amount of the time. One of my conservative neighbors made a point of thanking me for doing that, and ruefully shook his head at his SUV's. If all of us would just start taking those little steps, it all adds up. There also is a critical role for government. For decades we have provided tax incentives to oil and gas companies, to make exploration and development economically attractive. It is time that the government made it equally attractive for wind and solar, etc. We need to pound on members of Congress and the state legislatures so that they realize that it is a new day, and that we demand smart action NOW. People in Congress do not want to lose their jobs, but if we do not make them afraid of losing our votes, they will take the path of least resistance. The Civil Rights movement is probably the best example of common people finally saying enough was enough. Communication and organizing is a lot more sophisticated now, and that's fine. What we need to understand is that the future is in our hands, and what we do and what we do not do will affect our futures and the future of our children and grandchildren. This effort will change over time as we learn what works and what does not work, but today is the time to start. Thanks to Mr. Pickens and those who support him in this effort. Gerry Chapman

There are a few people posting comments here who ask what change Obama would bring to America regarding energy policies. They refer to his speech at the DNC, but plainly did not listen to it. People like Trevor Zandt and Tony Trello want details, and call Obama a "bag of hot air," but they can't be bothered to do the slightest bit of research themselves. If you want to know the details of how Barack Obama plans to get us started on the road to freedom from foreign oil, all you have to do is go to his website. The details are all right here in black and white: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf People, if you're interested enough in this topic to leave comments on this website, be involved enough to get your information from somewhere other than CNN or Fox News. Stump speeches are not now, nor have they ever been the place for detailed description of every plan a candidate has. Think about how boring that would be! They are just a starting point, designed to get you interested enough to do some of your own thinking and digging. If you think any presidential candidate is nothing more than what you see of them on TV from rallies and speeches, you really aren't trying hard enough. Get smart and go find out what your vote will really mean. Barack Obama is not just spouting lies to make you feel good. He is genuine and has a real plan for America; but virtually every comment on here makes the same, valid point: it's not the politicians who will fix this world for us. We have to get on the boat and start paddling ourselves, too.

Tony, You should be aware that John McCain also opposes drilling in ANWAR. The oil companies already have rights to drill on millions of acres in the U.S. INCLUDING a HUGE portion of Alaska near ANWAR. You're correct, ANWAR is SMALL, especially when you compare it to what the oil companies already have to choose from in locations to drill. Truth be told, drilling in more locations won't make a difference in energy prices... for at least 10 years... if AT ALL.... because demand will continue to go up. We need alternatives. If you need to know what sort of "change" either candidate proposes, I suggest you go to their web sites where more detailed descriptions are available. Such detail isn't appropriate for campaign speech as the whole audience would be snoring it would be sooo long! The idea in a speech is to get you interested so you'll want to find the details!

So those of your that are Obama fans, need to do real research which doesn't just include his website. You have to think about the WHOLE picture. His energy policy DOESN'T include drilling, and saying 10 years for an impact to drill in off limit areas is ignorant, and doesn't take into effect the impact that OPEC would react to the idea of the US opening more areas to drilling. You also don't consider where ALL of Barack's program costs will be funded from. Pickens and Barack are kind to think that all of these jobs will magically be created. Take a look and see the comparison and the restrictions on wind power alone on efficiency compared to current technologies. Even Pickens says we're not there yet, and need something to fill the gap which is more drilling. Look at how many companies currently produce hybrid and alternative energy sources, and those are the subject experts. How do you expect 5 million jobs to be created with a limited number of subject on hand. So think it all the way through before some of you Barack fans vote for us all to fund the destruction of our economy.

How you people can desire to live in a modern "dark age" is beyond me. We MUST now look for other energy alternatives to fuel our world. I believe Senator Obama has done an excellent job of spelling out his plans and intentions for this country. And, he is ABSOLUTELY right in that we must reduce and cease our dependence on foreign oil. It simply MUST BE DONE. No, it's not going to happen over night, it will take time, but we MUST start NOW. McCain, on the other hand, hasn't said anything about what he plans to do for this country. In fact, I think McCain's campaign platform IS to villify and disparage Senator Obama for this is what he has constantly done from the beginning, WASTING his precious campaign dollars. McCain has shown him to be a desparate self serving person. He doesn't care about the American people as a whole only his own and his kinds self serving agenda. Look at the lives they lived before they became presidential candidates. Senator Obama was out in the community serving the people even though he could have been out there like McCain lining his pockets and purchasing houses all over the country. If McCain manages to connive his way into the white house America will suffer a great deal more than what it already has!

It has been desperation that has fueled McCain's campaign ads. It was desperation that led McCain to choose Governor Palin as his vice presidential candidate, and I don't say that to slight Governor Palin. It is enormously laughable however, that McCain feels that in choosing a woman as his running mate he is going to garner votes from the women of America as if they are so gullible and desperate as he has shown himself to be, as if any woman that talks a little tough game can replace Senator Hilliary Clinton. And, it was also desperation that led McCain to New Orleans for his latest photo op. All self serving! I am neither a republican nor a democrat, I would vote for a man or a woman, black or white or otherwise, whomever is best for the job, whomever I feel can get this country back on track and take us where we should already be, not allow us to stagnate in prior accomplishments.

I think it's time for people to stop looking at obama as god.He is another politician that will lie to get a vote.WHERE DOES HE SUPPOSE HE'S GONNA GET THE MONEY TO DO EVERYTHING?You don't think he promised thousand dollar rebates to persuade?

ok first of all forget obama or mccain for a minute because both of them get capaign money from oil companies in the first place. but wind and solar technologies would be great and is a start. I think we need to invest more into nuclear though because you can have transistors that last 5 to 10 years and people working for ones that would last 25 years ok if we used those to power cities factories that would help.Next the bakken formation that is in the plains or gulf oil or the diamond mine of natural gas.here is the only problem the companies that have the technology of horizontal drilling and can get thru sand or shale to change into oil are opec companies in the middle east so we would have to contract to get them to extract it so they want there cut which they have a grasp on the oil now.so how much money would we save. i think we have to to all forms of this start the drilling here and build the wind mills and build nuclear plants an solar fields. Here is the thing if we perfect it we could have more jobs because we could sen people to china russia etc to build there greener buildings but the middle east loses in a way because we ship exports to them an spend our money to them.if we don't buy their oil who buys exports to help reduce the national debt and increase our economy.And yes oil companies should spend some profits to restore an buil new fields to have more access to oil but why would they if they are making billions of dollars sitting on their asses and we are going into poverty.but if we invested in to alternative i bet they would to make oil cheaper an more available so we buy it.and the money shouldnt be a problem because exports should make money for one 2 how many countries buy our debt becaue it is so secure.so spending 2 trillion in alternatives will be absorbed by other countries

I commend Mr. Pickens for (A) Having a plan. (B) Standing up for it while admitting it's not perfect. (C) Going for it. (D) Not getting all caught up in the Obama vs. McCain debate. I suspect he understands that this not a partisan issue and far more important than what political party wins the election. That said, if you want to see Wind Power Harnessed in any fashion and you believe that you should judge people by what they do, not by what they say then you should vote for Obama. His actions and written and verbal public policy from the beginning have all been 100% for clean renewable energy (including wind power). For the facts check out these sources: To compare their respective Congressional Voting Records on environmental and alternative energy bills, look here: http://lcv-ftp.org/LCV/omchart.pdf Obama has (since his campaign started committed to $150 Billion $15B x 10 years) for clean energy; for details see his plan here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy By comparison, John McCain offers $0 and only tax credits: http://www.johnmccain.com//Informing/Issues/17671aa4-2fe8-4008-859f-0ef1468e96f4.htm The fact is that renewable energy and the environment are not Bi-Partisan issues and we have two decent candidates this year but if you want real change on energy Obama is the only choice in this election. The facts and their voting records speak for themselves! Every environmental organization and Al Gore, perhaps the most vocal proponent of clean energy, endorse Obama and that is no accident. It's not just that Gore is obviously a Democrat - you don't see him on the ticket do you? Check out his website for the BI-PARTISAN movement to solve our energy issues in Washington: http://www.wecansolveit.org/ for details (OUR SECURITY, ECONOMY, and ENVIRONMENT ARE NOT PARTISAN ISSUEs); Mr. Pickens is definitely correct that change won't come without Washington cooperating and $150 Billion is way more than has ever been offered before. As Obama has said many times before in speeches and public appearances, it's very easy to be very cynical about politics and Washington. We've been lied to for so long - every candidate since Nixon has promised a solution to these issues and has accomplished little. As a 40 year old Independent who never got involved or even voted until the last election (big mistake on my part), trust me it matters! Being cynical and expecting that you can't believe what John McCain or Barack Obama say is one thing, but at least consider what they have voted for while in office and choose whomever you think is better! So before you vote, take a couple of minutes and check out the facts and whatever you do, please vote. Energy is the most serious crisis facing Americans (not Republicans, Democrats, Federalists, Independents, but _all_ Americans). Mr. Pickens is right - it is time for action not talk so my hat is off to him! I suspect that as an Obama supporter and Independent Mr. Pickens (a Republican) and I disagree on many issues but trust me I’m with him on wind power and I can accept Natural Gas as a temporary measure so count me in on the Pickens Plan no matter who wins. I do however; strongly feel that only Obama will help make the Washington piece of the Pickens Plan a reality.

One other point about Obama to address some of the comments above about how it will be paid for. Firstly, no one including Obama, claims to be able to magically erase our $9.5 TRILLION deficit but Obama's plans call for a balanced budget (like Clinton had) with PAYGO rules. That would at least start us back on the road to repayment that Clinton had us on 8 years ago. The revenues come from eliminating government spending on programs that are not working, improving the efficiencies of programs that are, and rolling back the largest (BUSH)Tax Cuts in the history of the nation, causing individuals who make more than $250K/yr to pay what they used to under Clinton. So the money literally comes from where it used to under Clinton - those who are in the top 1% of our economy - sorry Boone. For the details of the Obama Fiscal plan, see: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/fiscal/ By the way, McCain wants to keep those tax cuts in place and make additional cuts. see his web site for details: http://www.johnmccain.com/Issues/JobsforAmerica/taxes.htm Obama wants to provide small cuts to those under $250K but roll back the Bush cuts. Also, Obama wants to leave Iraq for which we borrow $10-12 Billion/Month ($1/2 TRILLION and counting). I realize that doesn't magically generate money but it sure keeps us from borrowing that much more. Every Monday morning the Fed tries to refinance our debt with China and other foreign investors and that is our single greatest budget expense item - interest on our debt! Additonal revenues will come from the Cap and Trade program. Government needs to use both the carrot and the stick approach and raise money to pay for this stuff! You can't expect to pollute, cause problems for our economy and national security and not pay any extra taxes. By the way who ever wins, if we create new Green Collar jobs here in America, that increases Federal Tax Revenues (Payroll Taxes). If we create a whole new Energy Sector, here in America, that also increases Federal Tax Revenues (Corporate Income Taxes). Here's an interesting comparison of the two candidates Green Energy plans made by Fortune magazine: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/27/news/economy/election_green.fortune/index.htm PLEASE READ BOTH CANDIDATES PLANS BEFORE YOU REVERT TO THE CYNICAL KNEE JERK RESPONSE - YEAH RIGHT

I think with people thinking outside of just continuing to drill for a resource that we don't have enough of we'll never get off oil. With Mr. Pickens and Obama's plan to start an energy revolution I think we've got a great chance to leave my grandchildren an almost 100% green national grid with MILLIONS of jobs and clean renewable energy.

How about if everyone just shuts up for a minute? We all agree that we need to have more energy. We all agree that we need to be more self-sufficient. We all agree that the "we", of whom we speak, need to do something. If the "we" of "us" wait for the government to "git 'er done" NONE of the "us" of the "we" will ever be able to say "got 'er did". We need to get off bottom-dead-center. Let's stop arguing about who is right! Let's leave politics to the politicos and the building of the nation that we ALL care about so much to the people who have done it ALL in the first place! Lets go around all of the bullshit and "git 'er done" ---- NOW!

I agree with Ray D. that we need to do this irrespective of who wins the election. If however, you are paying any attention to Mr. Pickens and his plan you know that this will not happen without the full cooperation of our next president - whomever we elect. It's no accident that Mr. Pickens is not taking sides in the election and has spoken with both candidates. He has said "we need the next president to take action in the first 100 days in office". Unfortunately for all Americans, we can't do much about energy without forcing Washington to take action. If you want a president whose voting record and public policy support Wind Power and the reduction of fossil fuel usage vote for Obama. He is much more likely to support the Pickens plan which he has mentioned publicly in speeches. Obama has said that Boone is right that this is one problem we can't drill our way out of. John McCain has said "Drill Here, Drill Now". Is anyone paying attention? The RNC members were chanting "Drill Baby Drill!" all last night! Sarah Palin is the queen of drilling. I believe that if drilling is what it takes to move forward, then go ahead and drill but that had better be way down the list of priorities and renewable energy like wind had better be at the top! If you think that this can be done without Washington, then please tell us how! Mr. Pickens obviously thinks that Washington is absolutely key to this effort. Can we all agree that Mr. Pickens is right? So ask yourself - how do you upgrade the power grid and promote wind and natural gas without the Federal Government's cooperation? Your vote matters so please consider the facts before you vote in November!

McCain's "experience" is what helped get us here! We, the people have to get it done. Washington is bought and paid for. It's very "cheap" and easy to just drill and pump up Black gold.... then sell it for $150. per barrel? Washington only listens when someone is paying them? When will they look to do what's right? Money is not an issue... they've waisted many millions on Defense, Wars, and NASA, with nothing to show for it!

We can't just drill we need to be able to process the faster

We can't just drill we need to be able to process the oil faster

Several questions. No disrespect meant. Where was T Boone when we needed this kind of thought and caring about the country in the 70's,80's90's? My guess would be making billions of dollars. I don't have a problem with that. It does make me leary of his intentions now. I think these are all great ideas for alternative energy. Infrastruture for natural gas use in vehicles may be a larger issue than the grid problems with wind. I can not and will not support Sen. Obama. I will never knowingly vote for larger government. I will never knowingly vote for higher taxes. We don't need more Taxes in this country and I would imagine T Boone would probably agree. What we need is more responsible spending of the money already collected and in reality that's would still be excessive. I don't want government to take care of me. I want government to give me a chance to take care of myself. As an independent Voter I would like to know if Sen. McCain would support T Boones plan. I have no doubt that he would support it providing the plan was all on the up and up. I feel like McCain and Palin would fight both Democrats and Republicans and that's what I'm interested in seeing happen in America. It's time to clean house. McCain has made it clear that it doesn't matter to him what party affilation your with. If your right, your right. If your wrong your wrong. He is going to get my vote this time around. In summation I agree that running a vehicle on natural gas is a great idea. I've done it myself for years. Natural Gas would help provide a bridge while we (quickly) find the right alternatives to fossil fuels.

Ray and Jimmy are both right! The political infighting between these two useless political parties is the problem that has put us in this predicament fully 35 years after we were duly warned by the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973! We are the only answer to our problems! I am ready to help, are you? If Boone really does want to help us solve this problem for our country, we can sure use his help! Where there is a will, there is a way, but having some of that money back that Boone made driving up the price of our oil would sure help to accomplish this! However, tho' I thought he was sincere, I got absolutely no specifics on his plan, and little indication that he is willing to accept any input from us 'little people' when I spoke with him at the LeMars, Iowa Townhall. He did not want the people to hear about the problems with his plan! Below is an in-depth Letter to the Editor I had published in some newspapers to explain what is seriously flawed about this plan: COMMON SENSE ON ENERGY, NOW!!!, Part II I wanted to discuss how we should make use of wasted local energy resources like that biogas flame at the sewage plant and the algae from Storm Lake for bio-fuels, but the nitwits are attacking on other fronts, so I must rush to the ramparts. This won’t be short, so if you would rather not learn anything today, or you don’t want your present world view to be confused by the facts, stop reading, now! I am often fond of saying that God created every person with a special talent and their own little piece of the truth. The real trick is in finding each persons talent to employ them to their fullest, and to recognize their little piece of the truth, so that we can put it in its proper place in the jigsaw puzzle of life to recreate that picture of eternal bliss in the Garden of Eden. Sadly, not every living being is willing to lend their talent and their knowledge to this quest. For this reason, we all continue to suffer. Texas oil man, T. Boone Pickens, whose talent seems to be making money for himself, made over $1Billion speculating in oil and gas in 2005, again in 2006, $1.5B in 2007, was earlier estimated to be worth $3 Billion, but has since been instrumental in pushing crude oil beyond reason with his very public pronouncements that “oil is going to $150”. It is now hovering around $145 as he quietly sells the barrels he bought at $50, after all, he’s not greedy; he doesn’t have to have every penny of that $150! Whenever you hear a speculator say one thing, you should run the other direction! Just like when George Soros caused the devaluation of the US Dollar, when he announced to the world that he was getting out of Dollars and buying Euros. That should have been interpreted by all of us that Soros had already sold all of his Dollars and bought all the Euros he could buy. He went public, because he wanted everyone else to do the same, so he could get out of Euros near their high and buy Dollars cheap. Because Soros is rich, every fool listens to him. All the lemmings bit on this one, and rushed to dump their Dollars, stressing our economy and raising the price of food, fuel and everything we buy in the process. George only wants money and a Dem elected President, and he doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get it! Paraphrasing Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, “If you mix a big lie in with a little truth, and tell it often enough, you can convince everyone it is the truth.” That is what T. Boone is doing with his very expensive TV ad campaign touting PickensPlan.com to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Everything he has to say about the harm buying foreign oil is doing to our economy is absolutely true. That we should use more of our own CNG (compressed natural gas) for our autos is also true, and absolutely achievable with technology we have had for decades. That we should make more use of wind and solar energy, of course, but, that we can take Natural Gas (NG) away from electrical generation and replace that with wind and solar power shows he is either extremely ignorant of the fundamental facts about electricity, or he is trying to pull the wool over our eyes for his own profit! Call me cynical, but I am betting on the latter, as recently, Pickens has heavily invested the profits of his oil speculation into both wind and natural gas! He has also invested heavily in water rights, what should that tell us about what ‘shortage’ might develop next? I am all for anyone making money, just do it honestly, without hurting your fellow man in the process, always giving your trading partners equal fair market value. To see why Pickens’ Plan is not perfectly honest and achievable, we need to understand our energy consuming habits and needs. Electrical power providers categorize our energy demand as 3 types of “load” – base, intermediate, and peak. “Base load” is the minimum level of electrical power consumption at any one moment throughout any hour of every day of the year. This is constant demand and requires constant generating capacity, as alternating current cannot be stored, it must be used at the moment it is generated. They use hydroelectric, nuclear, and coal-fired steam turbine generating plants to provide this power, as these are cheap, constant and dependable, but cannot be started and stopped quickly to meet new load. Geothermal, ocean thermal, offshore wind, wave, and ocean current energy could also be used for this load, and these represent the only safe and inexhaustible supply of renewable energy available to us to address ‘base load’. Why does no one even mention them in this debate on what we should do about energy? Why should we build nuclear plants when we haven’t even sunk one turbine in the Gulf Stream, yet? “Intermediate load” is the demand that increases from 6AM, when the world starts to stir, to 9PM, when it starts to wind down, getting ready for bed. This happens like clock work every day, regardless of the weather, it can be planned for, so they fire the boilers in those coal-fired plants, a little harder, a little ahead of time, to bring more steam turbine generators on-line, or open another gate on a hydroelectric dam, when you and I want to shower and go to work. “Peak load” is different every day of every season, depending heavily upon the weather and variable human activity. It is normally between 12 Noon and 4PM, with space heating and air conditioning being the greatest variable in demand. This demand changes rapidly and requires instantaneous response in generating capacity from hot gas turbines, which burn NG. There is no alternative to this gas, except other more expensive gases. If we take this NG from electric companies, we will be constantly plagued with brownouts and blackouts, or see massive increases in the price of our power and fuel, or both. Wind cannot replace this power, it almost never comes when we really need it. Most of the best wind comes at night, when we do not need it at all. The power companies really hate to be forced to buy wind power for 3.5cts/Kwh while shutting down coal-fired generation that costs them 1ct/Kwh. Who could blame them? Likewise, where the best wind comes, from West Texas to North Dakota, we do not have the necessary transmission lines, because there are few people living there to serve this power to. High tension interstate transmission lines are very expensive, and very intrusive! Nobody wants these monstrosities built in their back yard! What we could, and should, do is hook every alternative energy source we can find to a local load that matches it. Solar photoelectric energy is a good match for air conditioning, refrigeration, and water pumping. Demand for these always increases when the sun shines, perfect match! It is expensive, inefficient, and nearly useless for anything else. Solar heating is little better, but should be passively designed into every new building. Wind is a great match for space heating, water pumping, battery charging and other automated industrial processes that can be run when the wind blows, and shut off when it doesn’t, such as cryogenic distillation of air, hydrogen electrolysis, anhydrous ammonia (NH3) production, and other industrial gas production from these processes. Huge quantities of our precious NG are spent senselessly in manufacturing NH3 for fertilizer, when it has long been cheaper to return to the original carbon-neutral, and infinitely renewable process of making it from water and air. We must rewrite the REA charter to cover all forms of rural energy distribution, empower local REC’s to fund, sell and maintain distributed generation systems for their members, and to empower those members to sell all forms of energy directly back. Then, we must erect wind and water current turbines everywhere we can possibly put them, thousands of big ones, and millions of smaller ones between them, that we manufacture here (not expensive imports). Each can be wired into our present electrical grid without building new transmission lines. Then, we must hook each to a water electrolyzer, and a booster pump, to store the off-peak energy as Hydrogen gas (H2), putting this, along with methane (CH4) from our every hog house, poultry house, cattle feedlot, and sewage plant, into the local low-pressure NG pipelines that serve our houses, farms and industries. Underground low-pressure NG pipelines are cheap and innocuous. NG, mostly CH4, the very same biogas produced by every marsh, cow stomach, and manure pit, is compatible with both gasoline and diesel engines, and is perfectly interchangeable with propane, butane, and Hydrogen in low pressure gas systems (<300psi). These gases are extremely clean burning and can be used interchangeably in any gasoline motor with a truly flex-fuel system having an adjustable orifice. H2 and CH4 are perfectly compatible, clean, safe and infinitely renewable; they also store well and liquefy under comparable conditions, but only at very high pressures (5400psi), or very low temperatures (-253C). CNG is normally packed at 3000psi for auto fuel, which is too high to be compatible with other gases, and too low to liquefy. So, we should standardize compressed gas auto fuel storage pressure with liquid propane gas (LPG) at 300psi, then, use LPG, ethanol, or gasoline, only for long trips, and NG for our every day commutes. With a small pump, we could all fill our cars and tractors at home from our own NG/H2 pipeline meter for about a Dollar per gallon gasoline equivalent! When Pickens wants us to do that, I’ll support him, 100%!