Texas Oilman Bets on Wind

T. Boone Pickens, a billionaire Texas oilman, thinks that the U.S. needs to reduce its dependence on oil. That's why he's putting billions of dollars of his own money into building down in Texas what will be the largest wind farm in the world.

Pickens is starting with 600 wind turbines from GE which will be capable of producing a gigawatt of energy. This is the first stage of a massive project to build a four gigawatt network of wind turbines by 2015.

In some areas, people object to wind turbines because they think they are ugly and detract from the natural beauty. Personally, I like them, as I see them as a sign of progress and advancement. For the local farmers down in Texas, though, Pickens plan brings something better... money. Each wind turbine that a farmer puts on his or her land brings in approximately $20,000 per year in royalties.

My favorite part of this CNN story is the last paragraph, where Pickens says, "But we are going to have to do something different in America. You can't keep paying out $600 billion a year for oil."

It's clear to me that this Texas oilman gets it.