T. Boone Pickens, He's Our Man. If He Can't Do It...

It may be time for us all to familiarize ourselves with T. Boone Pickens' Energy Plan.  I bring this up, because with every passing day, it seems more and more likely that the government either won't have the money to invest in alternative energy, or will choose not to invest in alternative energy because it isn't top priority.  At a rally in Belton, MO yesterday, McCain contradicted himself  by saying that he would freeze government spending on all programs except defense, veterans care, Social Security, and health care, but later in the very same speech he said that if he is elected, the government will invest in all energy alternatives including nuclear, wind, solar, tide, and clean coal.  Of course he also emphasized that new oil drilling will begin immediately if he is elected president.  Obama has not specifically said that he will cut some of the money he proposed to spend on his energy plan, but he has been hedging, saying that he may need to delay some programs.  The dropping oil and gasoline prices also tend to lower the priority of alternative energy in the minds of some.

All this leads me to the point about T. Boone Pickens.  If indeed the government is not going to invest in alternative energy, then private investors may be the only way to go.  If you're not familiar with the Pickens Plan, it essentially includes two parts.  Part A includes a substantial investment in wind energy and the infrastructure required to harness the energy and get it to the electrical power grids.  Part B, and where his plan gets a little tricky, involves "freeing up" the natural gas currently used to power the electrical grid, made possible because in theory, the wind power will replace the natural gas power on the grid, and then using that natural gas in hybrid vehicles.  Most are in favor of the investment in wind energy.  Most are against the plan to use natural gas to power vehicles, for all the usual reasons.  Environmentally, it's not much better than gasoline.  

There are so many different ways the future of our energy may be headed.  The fact is that hybrid cars will be partially powered by electricity, but unless we have a fully electric car, they will still be dependent on some sort of fuel.  Will it be gasoline, natural gas, or ethanol, or some other biofuel?  T. Boone Pickens has a plan and he has money to back it.  If it goes his way, then natural gas is the answer.

**** UPDATE ****

It seems as if Mr. Pickens may have hit a bit of a roadblock, which may be related to tough economic times and the impact on the automotive industry.  T. Boone Pickens is the majority share holder of a company called Clean Energy Fuels, which is a natural gas vehicle distribution company.  Clean Energy Fuels was in negotiations with Honda to buy FuelMaker, one of their subsidiaries.  FuelMaker manufactures natural-gas refueling appliances, one of which is designed for consumers to use at home.  T. Boone was hoping to acquire FuelMaker in order to try to capitalize on the use of the in-home fueling device (Phill), which would alleviate the need to invest in infrastructure to equip gas stations with natural gas refueling capabilities.  Details as to why the deal fell through were not really provided, although it seems Honda was the initiator in terminating the agreement.  The termination was announced on October 16, 2008, and Clean Eenergy shares were trading at $9.44 which is down about 50% from September, when they were close to $20.