Legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens recently detailed his plan to wean America off foreign oil by blanketing the Great Plains with wind turbines. But Pickens also has a lesser-known plan that is centered on another commodity, one every bit as vital to America's future as energy—water. If it all works out, his water plan could remake Pickens as a whole new kind of baron.
Pickens is in the planning stages of a $1.5 billion initiative to pump billions of gallons of water from an ancient aquifer beneath the Texas Panhandle and build pipelines to ship them to thirsty cities such as Dallas. So far, no city has taken up his water company, Mesa Water, on the offer. But company officials and experts agree that a continuation of the drought impacting large portions of the United States could turn Pickens into something of a water baron. His yet-to-be-built pipeline would follow the same 250-mile corridor as electric lines carrying power from his wind farms. Pickens prompted the creation of a public water supply district, run by his employees, that can claim private land for the pipeline route through eminent domain. (Follow the pipeline's path here.)>>>MORE
HT: Dr. Hazlett at the Climate and Energy Project:
T. Boone Pickens in T.opeka today - doors open at 3:30 p.m.
...From the evidence of my email (which is numerous but probably not representative of a broad slice of Americana), the following topics are of interest to many of the folks who plan on attending:Water. Another of Pickens’ future projects (not an official part of the Pickens’ plan, I don’t think) is a water pipeline running from the Ogallala to major TX population centers - read this article for more info.
Wind. Gotta have transmission to get wind to market. Where do we get the transmission?
Natural gas. Is there enough? What about issues with imports? And affordability?>>>MORE
