T. Boone Pickens is more than just an opinionated fellow who talks a big game. He’s an opinionated fellow who talks a big game and is backed up by an even bigger bank roll, estimated at $4 billion. (Photo by Leah L. Jones.) Pickens' words more than just wind

No doubt there are a lot of folks out there with grand schemes and blue-sky brainstorms about how to tackle America’s energy problems.

But T. Boone Pickens is more than just an opinionated fellow who talks a big game. He’s an opinionated fellow who talks a big game and is backed up by an even bigger bank roll, estimated at $4 billion.


Little wonder then that Pickens is stirring a gust on Capitol Hill, quickly becoming the hot ticket with his self-financed campaign to put wind power at the center of the nation’s energy strategy, while the political world is newly focused on $4-a-gallon gasoline and energy independence.

He meets Tuesday with the entire House Democratic Caucus. The Texas oilman has not always been the most popular fellow among this group during his long career as a corporate raider, which started in the 1980s — not to mention his role as a funder of the Swift Boat Veterans in the 2004 presidential campaign.

In an interview, Pickens said Democrats reached out to him. “I haven’t come up here trying to talk to anybody,” he said. “I felt like the grass roots is where I’d have my support.”

See Also Erika Lovley talks about Pickens’ plan



Indeed, just last week, the “ Pickens Plan,” which he’s touting in a lavishly funded national television, Internet and newspaper campaign, was drawing mostly shrugs on Capitol Hill. Many congressional offices knew no details of the plan, and most staffers said their bosses were too busy to bother.

But that’s before word got around that Pickens was coming to town.

His campaign reported “dozens and dozens” of requests for sit-down meetings.

“Then I started to hear from friends on both sides that called me,” Pickens recalled. “I talked to the speaker, and I’ve got a meeting with Mitch McConnell. They called and wanted to know what I’m up to.”

Some are skeptical of the Pickens Plan, which calls for the government to help fund construction of new wind generation facilities to produce 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and slash one-third of foreign oil imports over the next 10 years.

Some are skeptical, too, of his motives, saying Pickens is looking to benefit his BP Capital Management company, which invests heavily in renewable energy.

But, munching on Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookies in his Hay-Adams hotel suite, the 80-year-old Pickens said he’s in a new phase of his life.

“I didn’t want to come and go in this life and feel like I had something that would’ve helped the country,” he said. “So I thought, ‘What the hell, it’s time to stand up and be counted.’”

The hoopla has already attracted the interest of the nation’s top political players, including President Bush, former Vice President Al Gore, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Ralph Nader and Warren Buffett.

Pickens says imports are costing America $700 billion a year, asserting that this will eventually be the largest transfer of wealth in history.

The switch to wind for some of the country’s electricity needs would allow natural gas to be conserved for use in motor vehicles, which would burn more cleanly at a cost of only $1 per gallon in some parts of the country.

“I want to elevate my plan into this presidential debate and the very critical situation that the country’s facing right now regarding how much oil we’re importing,” Pickens said. “I’d like to see it [implemented] in the first 100 days of the next presidency.”

Pickens has already spent a bundle unveiling his plan, committing to spend $58 million through the end of the year. And he already has a handful of lobbyists on staff and may add more.

The American Wind Energy Association and the Sierra Club are helping him push parts of his massive wind lobbying campaign in the coming months.

But do lawmakers like what they hear?

Some, including Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), do.

Pomeroy’s home state has the most wind power potential, according to wind experts. And Pickens plans to stake wind turbines on private lands from the Texas Panhandle to the Dakotas, providing extra revenue for ranchers and farmers.

“By building wind towers, rural and remote areas have an opportunity to make a very substantial contribution,” Pomeroy said. “To me, Pickens has given the debate an important jump-start.”

Still, Pickens has a tough sell ahead of him.

He has invited both presidential contenders — Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama — to a three-way meeting with him on his plan, but so far neither has responded.

“This is a nonpartisan approach I’m using,” Pickens explained. “In the end, it will come down to leadership. Whoever is the best leader has got to come up with something to solve the problem.”

He’s also moving swiftly to separate his plan from Gore’s new global warming blueprint, a 10-year proposal that calls for the nation to generate all of its electricity from alternate fuels.

“He is solving global warming. ... I’m solving another problem,” Pickens said. “His is global warming, and mine is the transfer of $700 billion.”

Some members also have their doubts about the feasibility of the Pickens Plan. To start, it requires Congress to approve billions of dollars in subsidies for renewable energy — something the Senate has fought over for months.

“I’m not entirely convinced,” said Rep. John E. Peterson (R-Pa.), whose state is being eyed by gas production companies as the next natural gas mecca. “I have no problem developing wind farms, but I’m not sure how Pickens plans to suddenly explode wind energy to 20 percent.”

The American Petroleum Institute and other oil industry supporters warn that converting the automobile fleet to natural gas will require major infrastructure changes at gas stations — and it won’t be cheap. Currently, there are only 785 natural gas fueling stations in the country.

“Pickens is an experienced man who’s put a lot of his own money into his own plan,” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). “He’s going to give this plan some legs, but I’m not sure we want to retrofit every gas station with natural gas.”

Reaching congressional consensus on energy legislation is another lofty goal.

Pickens is aiming to have his plan implemented within the first 100 days of a new administration that will face huge problems: a sputtering economy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other pressing issues.

If lawmakers are eyeing the billionaire for his campaign donations, though, he’s holding back.

“I’m not giving any money in this campaign,” he said. “I’m out this presidential term — it’s a total nonpartisan position.”

Pickens, though, has contributed in this election cycle, according the Center for Responsive Politics. He gave the National Republican Congressional Committee $15,000 last spring and contributed $4,600 to Rudy Giuliani’s unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Still, Pickens is doing an about-face from his stance in 2004, when he gave $3 million to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a 527 independent group that funded a negative advertising campaign credited with heavily damaging the Democratic presidential campaign of Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry.

Some don’t see simple altruism at work behind Pickens’ moves.

“I would put a caveat on his past actions,” said one Midwestern Republican senator who asked not to be identified. “It’s a pretty self-serving plan. He wants the government to pay for transmission lines that he’ll benefit from.”

Responding, Pickens said: “I’m 80 years old, and I’m worth $4 billion. I have plenty of money.

“I think it shows leadership that I’m putting my money into the wind business, and I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.”

The easiest people to convince have been grass-roots supporters, whom Pickens fondly calls “Boone’s Army.” Nearly 65,000 of them have joined his network, making the Pickens Plan website among the 1,000 most heavily trafficked in the world.

“Even if this plan doesn’t happen, I’ve spent my money and done what I wanted to do,” Pickens said. “I have no personal motive in this at all, except that it will help the country.”