Don't dismiss Pickens' plan yet

When a guy heavily invested in natural gas and wind power says the answer to our energy woes is natural gas and wind power, it's hard not to smirk at his Texas-size gumption.

But let's not be hasty.

Energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens unveiled a plan Tuesday to wean the United States from its dependence on foreign oil. By shifting to natural gas as a transportation fuel and increasing our reliance on wind power, he said, we could cut oil imports by as much as 38%.

"Our dependence on imported oil is killing our economy," Pickens said in a statement. "It is the single biggest problem facing America today."

He called the country's oil purchases from places like Saudi Arabia "the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind, sending billions of our dollars overseas to buy . . . a commodity that lasts 90 days until burned in our gas tanks."

Pickens, a legendary oilman, said his plan could change things within five to 10 years "if we can get Congress and the administration to act quickly."

That's a big if. Another big if is getting the auto industry to play ball by manufacturing more vehicles that run on natural gas instead of gasoline. And yet another wild card is whether the oil industry would support new energy priorities.

"These are big question marks," said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign and former head of the Sierra Club's global warming program. "There are a lot of things out of Mr. Pickens' control."

The so-called Pickens Plan would first entail a hefty investment -- more than $1 trillion -- in wind farms on an unusually breezy stretch of countryside extending from Texas to North Dakota.

The wind power would replace the natural gas now used by power plants to generate electricity. The country currently gets about 22% of its juice from natural gas.

All that freed-up natural gas, in turn, would be applied to fueling millions of vehicles that now run on gasoline but would be converted -- it's not clear how, or on whose dime -- to run instead on compressed natural gas.

I couldn't reach Pickens to ask him these questions. But he told the Associated Press that he wasn't guided by personal gain. "I'm doing it for America," he said.

Well, that's heartening. But the fact remains that he and his business partners are investing an estimated $12 billion to build the world's largest wind farm in Texas. That facility, needless to say, would play a pivotal role in meeting the nation's newfound demand for wind power.