Pickens shifts focus from wind to natural gas

Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, right, spent most of the last two years and $62 million on a massive advertising and public relations campaign to convince Americans to invest in wide expansion of wind power. The so-called "Pickens plan" called for the natural gas reserves freed up by the new wind investment to fuel vehicles and reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, Clifford Krauss reports for The New York Times. Now Pickens is about to launch a new campaign focusing on national security risks associated with foreign oil, downplaying wind and calling for further natural gas investment. (NYT photo by Matt Nager)

Pickens suspended his campaign in October when he felt health care was drowning out the energy debate, but he feels energy will soon return to the top of the Washington agenda, Krauss writes. Pickens made most of his fortune in oil before shifting to gas and wind in recent years. His new plan downplays wind because he says cheap gas has made it almost impossible to finance a wind project. Some of his financial stakes in various companies would stand to benefit from a boost in gas consumption, Krauss reports.

Pickens will call for the president to convert the entire federal automobile fleet to natural gas, he wants Congress to give large tax credits to companies that use natural gas vehicles and filling stations that install the necessary equipment. He told Krauss that fueling just a small percentage of the country's automobiles with natural gas could displace as much as 8 percent of oil imports within seven years. (Read more)