Pickens Plan - Questions Over Pickens' Motives and Methods

Questions Over Pickens' Motives and Methods

Many critics of the Pickens Plan highlight ways that Pickens could potentially benefit personally from the plan. For instance, Pickens owns the water rights to a huge ancient aquifer in the Texas Panhandle and overall owns more water than anyone else in the U.S. Increasing water demands and drought may make cities in the Great Plains willing to purchase water at high prices. Implementing Pickens Plan would give him rights to build electric transmission lines, and by getting a wider right of way it would allow Pickens to build water pipelines.

A similar strategy was attempted in Texas, where Pickens is building a wind farm that will bring electricity to Dallas, Texas. The proposed pipeline would have followed the same 250-mile (400 km) corridor as the electric transmission lines from the wind farms, which was to be seized for utility use from private owners through eminent domain. Many Texas landowners and legislators denounced the plan, particularly the fact that it allowed eminent domain to be exercised by an agency consisting only of T. Boone Pickens's employees. In September 2008, the water pipeline was suspended. T. Boone Pickens continues to purchase water rights in the Great Plains and has plans to build more, smaller wind farms.

T. Boone Pickens would be in an excellent position to benefit financially if the plan is implemented. His hedge fund, BP Capital, is highly invested in wind and natural gas enterprises. He is the majority stockholder of Clean Energy, the largest supplier of natural gas for vehicles in the United States.

In rebuttal to many critics' opposition, Pickens insists his interest is more in the country's future, than his personal wealth. Possibly as a move against such accusations, Pickens has donated over $700 million to philanthropic causes. In the last few years, he has often been on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of top U.S. philanthropists. Still, there are some who are uneasy about a man who made millions in the oil business advocating clean energy:

"When it comes to the Pickens Plan, the burr under my saddle is Pickens himself. I mean, isn't an oil guy selling air and gas a little like Donald Trump pitching poverty? It's downright uncomfortable." — Jay McDonald

Real concerns over natural gas being used for both home heat and vehicle fuel are that they may create shortages every year in the winter months when demand for home heating natural gas skyrockets. Since many American home owners already use natural gas to heat their homes, a huge increase in demand for natural gas as a vehicle fuel combined with the existing huge home heating demand based on harsh winter temperatures, could drive up natural gas prices ever year. This could be especially economically devastating to family budgets during the holiday months when people normally allocate more of their money for holiday shopping. Having to pay more for vehicle fuel and home heat at the same time (because both would be the same product) could have a major economic impact on the nation every year.

Another concern is that the reasoning behind the big immediate push for a natural gas future, is to lock out possible development and implementation of more viable renewable energy sources. If people can be convinced that natural gas is the best possible future, and a large expenditure can be made now for a massive natural gas infrastructure to use natural gas for vehicle fuel, it will be much more difficult to abandon natural gas as a vehicle fuel and move on to newer, less expensive renewable energy sources as they become more viable to use. If renewable fuel sources are allowed to develop before the country can be convinced to move to natural gas, the window of opportunity to addict the country to natural gas may close, and the people associated with the natural gas industry would lose a lot of money now and in the foreseeable future.

Interestingly enough, the "Pickens Plan" (which many believe is designed to make Pickens himself much more wealthy) is a "non-profit" organization.