T. Boone Pickens
By Michael J. Herman
Learn more about Pickens Plan online at pickensplan.com
Scientists from Cal Tech in Pasadena predict that future manned space flights may use renewable energy rather than the carbon-based fuels currently in use.
75% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted green energy policies. (Source: CNBC.)
Meet the man whose dedicated himself to changing the world. This oil tycoon, billionaire, and now renewable energy baron, can and will do it.
What’s so unique about T. Boone Pickens? One thing is he didn’t become a billionaire until the age of 70. That’s unusual enough, but in the short time since, he’s amassed a fortune that includes, among other things, significant real estate, oil, petroleum, and yes, even green energy.
Pickens is motivated by vision and results. His current plan is called The Pickens Plan. Its thrust: to replace oil and coal as the nation’s primary energy source with wind, solar, and natural gas.
On leadership, Pickens has one policy: “Everyone must be on the same page, striving for the same goal. With one vision, we can achieve anything. With the right vision, we can change the world.”
As he’s often said, “You don’t have to lead in everything, but lead someone somewhere.”
Pickens walks his walk. T. Boone is a grassroots-type leader who is able to enroll others into his idea of the future. Hell-bent on seeing it through, he has 8.5 million like-minded followers helping him make it happen.
The future that T. Boone predicts is heavily focused on renewable energy. “The key is the right leadership and the right legislation. HR 1835 promises a good start with natural gas.” (HR 1835 is the amendment to the Internal Revenue Code that encourages alternative energy investments and job creation).
While it’s true that T. Boone’s portfolios remain heavily in oil and petroleum, his intention is to get 350,000 of the 6.5 million diesel trucks and busses on U.S. highways converted to natural gas by 2019. “This will make the United States energy independent, which makes us safe and grows a stifling economy.”
Why, though, did the Texas-born farm boy turn down his octane on oil?
“It’s a matter of national security,” he explains. “As long as the U.S. continues its dependency on foreign oil, the more vulnerable we remain. Oil is expensive and in diminishing supply. Solar, wind, and natural gas are limitless and found in abundance right here at home. We can do this. It’s possible!” And that is precisely T. Boone’s message, that it is possible to be energy independent as a nation and that because of the political climate in America, now is the best and perhaps the only time we can make it happen. In other words, we have the momentum now. Let’s harness it.
Pickens wants change and if it means building the world’s biggest wind farm or solar paneling the planet, he will do it. And with 8.5 million followers, he has the wind at his back.
To some, it may seem a contradiction, an oil man bullish on renewable resources, but to the man who started with a lemonade stand at age seven and now runs a global energy enterprise, Pickens has huge plans and they involve making the country energy independent while creating a new economy of green energy priorities.
But what is it about T. Boone Pickens that makes him think that a single idea of his called Pickens Plan can change the world?
“We have to believe in big ideas in order for us to make our big dreams happen. I think and dream in big ways,” declares the 81-year-old Texan.
Pickens wants wind, solar, and natural gas (all infinitely abundant American resources) to fuel the economy. He sees natural gas as the replacement fuel for diesel in the 6.5 million trucks that cross America. That alone will be taking profound steps to achieve better environmental standards. He will settle for an initial 350,000 transformed by this next decade.
When you’re with T-Boone Pickens, you believe! Just like he dreamt of building successful petroleum operations, he now dreams of seeing a greener world, as ubiquitous as gas pumps. He can do it because it’s his dream. We can do it because big dreams make America great.
Maybe it’s the Texan in him? Maybe it’s the fact he sees it in his mind and it already seems real to him? Maybe it’s just time? Pickens is pickin’ the direction Americans are going. Are you with him? His father instilled in him a strong work ethic which gives him his formula for success. He tells us, “Believe in yourself, have a dream, and never give up.” He says there’s no real formula, but that’s how he did it.
“I’m big on renewable energy. That’s where I see the future going, but autos, trucks, trains, and cargo ships run on gas. There’s no way around that. So we have to find energy solutions that work and have promise in the future.”
At his age, Pickens has decided not to make long term plans any more, but he does compel others to take his lead.
What lies at the root of T. Boone Pickens’ stellar success is the inherent belief that we can do anything. We can all be great, and we can save the Earth for future generations.
Michael J. Herman is a best selling author, syndicated columnist, and motivational speaker.
