T. Boone Pickens Rides the Wind

Science & Technology (alternative energy)

Katie Fehrenbacher at Earth2Tech calls T. Boone Pickens "our favorite oil- baron- turned- wind- power- wildcatter, as he makes his first down payment on 500 wind turbines to build the world's largest wind farm. The Guardian calls it "the biggest and most audacious project of his career."

It may be the biggest but it is not the most audacious. That might be his three million dollars to support the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth . Or perhaps it is his $75 million purchase of ground water rights for 200,000 acres of Texas, where he will take water from the Ogallala Aquifer and pump it to El Paso or Dallas. He has no qualms about charging people for water- "I know what people say - water's a lot like air. Do you charge for air? 'Course not; you shouldn't charge for water," says he. "Well, OK, watch what happens. You won't have any water." He says he might clear a billion on the deal.

T. Boone Pickens controls much of Texas's oil and water already; soon he might control the wind. ::Guardian