Pickens' Energy Plan - Wonderful or Worrisome

T. Boone Pickens, the wealthy Texas oil man, has a plan to reduce or eliminate America's dependence on foreign oil. Perhaps you have seen the ads that he is running on TV. Pickens is estimated to be worth $3 billion, which according to Forbes makes him the 117th richest person in America.

The plan sounds wonderful. It moves America's oil dependent energy usage to wind power and natural gas. The plan compares United States wind power potential to Saudi Arabia's oil production. "The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power." The plan that is touted online is basically an overview and doesn't delve into specifics like how the energy will be transported from the wind farms to the consumer. Or how all of the current gas stations will be converted to natural gas dispensers. Not minor details for sure.

The worrisome parts of Pickens' Plan are the potential destruction of native floral and fauna while constructing the massive wind farms and transmision lines and that Mr. Pickens has a substatial investment in wind power that dates back to at least June 2007 when he announced that intended to build the world's largest wind farm.

In an August 2007 Electric Reliability Council of Texas filing, Pickens indicated that his project would be 200,000 acres and consist of 2,700 turbines.

Opportunity for America due to high gas prices - part 1

I believe that the high price of gas is an opportunity for Americans to become better stewards of the environment. And a wake-up call that we are not the only nation with large energy needs. We can also use the cost of gas as a reason to become a more healthy nation.

Better Stewards

As we drive back and forth to work, school and/or grocery stores in our behemoth vehicles that consume gas like a college student at an all you can eat buffet, we need to realize that we are killing the planet and ultimately ourselves. The green house gases that are created by our beloved vehicles are large contributors to global warming.

It is time to reduce the amount of gas that we use daily.

• Drive less - consolidate trips, walk or ride a bike
  
• Drive more fuel efficiently - Stop driving aggressively
  
• Drive a fuel efficient vehicle - If you are able to, purchase a hybrid vehicle
  

New Design

Ok the new design is up and running. I need to add back on some of the modifications that the old design had. I found this template at EBlog Templates. By tomorrow I should be back on track and posting interesting environmental information and theories.

This is actually the second template that I've installed today. I liked the first one but this one is so much cooler and it presents itself without problems unlike the first one.

Coming soon a new design

I figure that if I'm going to change the direction of this blog I might as well change the design while I'm at it. Unfortunately, that means that I will have to figure out what modifications I have made to the template so I can have the same information displayed and collected.

Some examples are Google Analytics, Feedburner, and SocialSpark. I think I will start a log for each of my blogs that will detail the modifications that I make to the templates. So that way if I need to change templates I will know for sure what changes I will need to add to the new template without looking through the code to find those changes.

Does anyone else keep a log like this? Just curious.

CO2 Scrubbing

There is a company in Arizona called Global Research Technologies [GRT] that is experimenting with scrubbing CO2 from the air with "Atmospheric Carbon CapturE SystemS" or ACCESS. This system consists of plastic "leaves" that collect CO2 similar to a tree collecting CO2. With the ACCESS system the CO2 is stored until it is either sequestered underground or sold to the energy or agricultural sectors.

A 9 foot by 4 foot ACCESS unit is capable of removing 50 lbs of CO2 per day. A representative from GRT has indicated that a unit the size of the Great Wall of China that was working at 100% efficency would capture half of the world's CO2 emissions.

New Direction

Effective today this blog's new purpose is to rant about environmental issues and create a voice for my environmental theories.

Last week the area in which I live suffered Mother Nature's wrath. There were severe thunderstorms that knocked out power to over 100,000 homes. It took days to get power restored. While driving around over the holiday [4th of July for those of you not in the United States] weekend the sound of chainsaws filled the air. It occurred to me that not only were downed trees being cut up for removal but people were cutting down trees that were not damaged in the storm.

The tree trimming/removal business was booming but at the expense of the wondrous carbon reducing flora. Huge trees were coming down and all of the carbon that they had been storing for years will begin reentering the atmosphere. Like the trees that were in the path of Hurricane Katrina. In that extreme case the carbon reentering the atmosphere equaled 60 to 100 percent of the carbon that is taken out of the atmosphere annually by trees in the United States.

Obviously the impact on global warming from the storm in my neck of the woods will not be as huge as Hurricane Katrina but it does not help in the least.

Plant some trees!

Denied

This blog was denied by Social Spark. It was due to lack of content. So I guess I need to increase my content production ASAP. I have reached a road block with my stories. I sure didn't get very far.

So my dilemma is should I try to remove the road block or should I take this blog in a new direction.

Suggestions anyone?