karlzachar.com

Everyone should take a minute and look at www.pickensplan.com.

Pickens’ message is simple and bold.  His plan is more of a “wake up call” to Americans with the message: the US needs to invest and develop alternative energy options to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.  Given Pickens’ personal investments, he is pushing for wind and natural gas.

However, the genius of Pickens’ Plan is that he is not beating the tired “save the environment” message so many other have tried to use (and failed) to mobilize America to seek energy alternatives.  Let’s face it – (sadly) Americans don’t care that much about the environment.  Pickens’ Plan is attracting attention because he is saying: “America, this is a huge national security issue!  Do we really want to be that dependent on the Middle East and Venezuela?!”  His transfer of wealth argument is:  why send $700bn annually to the Middle East when we should be investing those dollars in domestic energy alternatives?

It is not Pickens’ job to be the architect of our country’s energy policy going forward.  Over the last twenty years, Washington has done nothing.  At least Pickens is bold enough to lay out the beginning of something constructive and wealthy enough to mobilize it on his own.