Pickens Plan District Group AZ-01

Comment

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 24, 2009 at 7:01am

Greetings!
OK the time has come to mobilize and see what the Army can do. On Wednesday the Stimulus Bill will be voted on. There are some elements favorable to the Pickens Plan but we want them to do more.

Please call your members of Congress in Washington. There are two specific points we want to get across.

First point:

• Tell House Leadership that their constituents support the wind energy elements included in the Stimulus Bill which will build upon 2008's successes in the wind energy sector:
• Extension of the Production Tax Credit
• Implementation of a renewable infrastructure loan program

Second point:

• We hope they're willing to doing more on the natural gas side and provide the incentives that will greatly expand the use of domestic natural gas as a vehicle fuel in America. Expanded use of NGVs will help wean us off of foreign oil and create new American jobs. These incentives include,
• Increasing the vehicle tax credit to make natural gas trucks more accessible for heavy and medium duty truck operators
• Extending the fuel tax credit

We need to let our leaders know that The Pickens Plan works best as a whole plan—wind, solar and natural gas—and we hope Members of Congress will support that. The Stimulus Bill is a strong start but there's more we can—and should—do.

Please call your leaders in Washington and also ask your friends/co-workers/family to make those calls as well.

I want to know how many and who is generating calls--10 energy points are awarded for each call generated by a supporter, so you need to keep track of your efforts and report them to me.

One fun thing to do might be to gather together and make some calls. AZ01 should focus on: Kyl, McCain and Ann Kirkpatrick.

Here are their numbers:

Sen Kyl: (202) 224-4521
Sen. McCain: (202) 224-2235
Congresswoman Kirkpatrick: (202) 225-2315

Thank you all for your support!

Comment by ALAN WALLS on January 23, 2009 at 1:59pm

Hello members,
As usual this whole subject has blown out of purportion. Flooding congress with opinions is good. I agree with that. Tapping out long drawn out sentences on a keyboard seems to me to be futile. I live in Payson AZ, is anybody interested in a face to face meeting. sit down and discuss what we can do here in the Rim country to reduce our usage of electricity, oil, or produce energy via wind ,solar, or the exercise bikes at the college.
My name is Alan Walls, my email is ace5607@gmail.com. There are 13 locals who are part of the Pickens Plan.
Also, does anybody realize there is large wind corridor on the Rim between here and Mormon Lake. The exact location is vague right now.

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 22, 2009 at 7:54am

Here is an excellent example of an OP-ED piece written by Peter Remondino from AZ-03. It is excellent example of a citizen highlighting why they support the Pickens Plan.

I encourage you to write and submit your own OP-ED piece! Please forward to me anything you have written that I might share with the online community.

So How Dependent Are We On Foreign Oil?

Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has the only current energy proposal on the table that can reduce our dependence on the importing of foreign oil by up to 50% within the next ten years…..it’s called The Pickens Plan.

Is a 50% reduction realistic and attainable? It is if you keep in mind that we are talking about reducing foreign oil imports here and not overall oil usage – that comes later. Consider the 2008 year-to-date numbers from the EIA, the Energy Information Administration. The top 15 countries that we import oil from amounts to approximately 10 mil/bbl/day. Of those 15 countries, the top 5 account for 66% of all imports. They are, in order, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria. So if we need to reduce our foreign oil imports by 50%, we need to eliminate 5 mil/bbl/day.

According to the Pickens Plan, 70% of our oil imports are used for transportation. 30% of that is used for diesel fuel for heavy trucks or 2.1 mil/bbl/day. That usage alone equals 42% of the 5 mil/bbl/day target.

So, just by eliminating 100% of our imports from Saudi Arabia (1.5 mil/bbl/day) and 60% of our imports from the anti-American Hugo Chavezs’ Venezuela (.6 mil/bbl/day) we have reached the 2.1 mil/bbl/day and 42% of our target goal. Furthermore, we have added to our national security by keeping hundreds of billions of oil dollars in our country and out of the hands of hostile regimes that use it against us in the form of terrorist financing.

The Pickens Plan proposes to achieve this by using our abundance of domestic natural gas to fuel the heavy trucks across the nation. Additionally the plan calls for replacing the natural gas that provides 22% of our electricity generation with wind power. This wind power would come from a network of wind “farms” that would be constructed across the central United States in a corridor that runs from northern Texas to the Canadian border. A corridor that is known to be one of the windiest places on Earth and was substantiated by a study done by the Department of Energy.

Mr. Pickens has clearly stated that this plan is not an end all solution or permanent energy policy but a “bridge”. A bridge that will 1) keep hundreds of billions of dollars right here at home, 2) provide investment in our infrastructure and 3) create thousands of domestic jobs. The timing couldn’t be better. The current financial crisis needs economic stimulus by means of infrastructure investment and spending and putting Americans back to work.

The irony here is that we are not really “dependent” on oil, foreign or otherwise. Dependent means you can’t survive or do without. The truth is, over many years, we have chosen this path despite the fact that there are alternatives and other choices. The lingering question is, do we have the political leadership, will-power and courage to change the choice of our path?

The Pickens Plan is an immediate and viable step in the right direction.

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 21, 2009 at 8:28am

Greetings

AZ-05 had a very successful meeting this past Saturday. Action items were reiterated. Smaller district groups without the benefit of large numbers or an active district leader can still be involved. I encourage you to check in on some of the other district groups in Arizona. The link to AZ-03 is HERE. and the link to AZ-05 is HERE. I encourage you to check in often.

We are focusing on building Boone's Army by collecting signatures. Everyone can be contributing to this effort. Bring the sign-up sheet wherever you go and ask people to sign it in support of energy independence or write an OP-ED or letter to the editor of Arizona Republic asking our elected officials to adopt an energy plan.

If you need any assistance with any of these activities contact me. I enjoy hearing about activities in each district!

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 20, 2009 at 9:48am

I received this information recently and thought it interesting enough to pass along:

January 2009 by Catherine Brahic
* For similar stories, visit the Climate Change Topic Guide

The US could replace all its cars and trucks with electric cars powered
by wind turbines taking up less than 3 square kilometres - in theory, at
least. That's the conclusion of a detailed study ranking 11 types of
non-fossil fuels according to their total ecological footprint and their
benefit to human health.

The study, carried out by Mark Jacobson of the atmosphere and energy
programme at Stanford University, found wind power to be by far the most
desirable source of energy. Biofuels from corn and plant waste came
right at the bottom of the list, along with nuclear power and "clean"
coal.

Watch a video of Jacobson discussing his findings.

The energy sources that Jacobson found most promising were, in
descending order:

* Wind

* Concentrated solar power (mirrors heating a tower of water)

* Geothermal energy

* Tidal energy

* Solar panels

* Wave energy

* Hydroelectric dams

To compare the fuels, Jacobson calculated the impacts each would have if
it alone powered the entire US fleet of cars and trucks.

He considered not just the quantities of greenhouse gases that would be
emitted, but also the impact the fuels would have on the ecosystem -
taking up land and polluting water, for instance. Also considered were
the fuel's impact on pollution and therefore human health, the
availability of necessary resources, and the energy form's reliability.

"The energy alternatives that are good are not the ones that people have
been talking about the most," says Jacobson.

"Some options that have been proposed are just downright awful," he
says. "Ethanol-based biofuels will actually cause more harm to human
health, wildlife, water supply, and land use than current fossil fuels."
Biofuel concerns

Jacobson says it would take 30 times more space to grow enough corn to
power the US fleet than would be needed to erect enough wind turbines,
while bioethanol would produce more greenhouse gases than wind power.

Biofuels have received a considerable amount of political backing in
recent years with the US and Europe setting targets to phase in their
use and gradually replace oil.

Energy and wildlife experts have expressed concerns about biofuels and
the EU last year appeared to reconsider its position.

Nuclear is another energy source whose merits have been debated by
European and US leaders alike in the past 12 months. "It results in 25
times more carbon and air pollution than wind," says Jacobson. Half of
those emissions are caused by the time it takes to plan and build a
nuclear power plant - time during which fossil fuels have to be burnt
for energy.

"Clean" coal - the process of burning coal then capturing the emitted
carbon dioxide and storing it underground - is another political
favourite. Jacobson's calculations show that building and using enough
clean coal power plants would emit up to 110 times more carbon than
building and using wind turbines only. Focused efforts

"The philosophy that we should try a little bit of everything is wrong,"
says Jacobson. "We need to focus on the technologies that provide the
best benefit. We know which these are."

Jacobson acknowledges that politicians are calling for a massive jobs
programme to pull the economy out of recession, but says investment in
renewable energy is one way to do that.

"Putting people to work building wind turbines, solar plants, geothermal
plants, electric vehicles, and transmission lines would not only create
jobs but also reduce costs due to healthcare, crop damage, and climate
damage - as well as provide the world with a truly unlimited supply of
clean power," he says.

Jacobson presented his results to the chairman of the Senate energy and
Natural Resources Committee in October last year. They are published in
Energy and Environmental Science this month

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 20, 2009 at 8:02am

Just thought you would want to read the latest From the desk of T. Boone Pickens

Army,

This is a day that makes America different from any other modern nation. For the 43rd time in our history, the power of the Presidency will be passed from one American to another - peacefully, respectfully and hopefully.

President Barack Obama has it within his power and his skills to lead America. He has set goals which are lofty, but within our grasp. He has promised to end oil imports from the Middle East, Africa and Venezuela within 10 years. That is a reachable goal.

The Pickens Plan New Energy Army is made up of Americans of every political stripe. This is beyond politics and I have every reason to believe President Obama will rise above politics to establish policies and ask for legislation which will embrace the pillars of the Pickens Plan.

I want to thank each one of you for your hard work leading up to this important day. Over the last 6 weeks alone, over 300 of you have signed up to lead District Groups and you have recruited over 20,000 new members to the Army. Every day I'm reading the op-eds you’re getting placed in your local newspapers and hearing about the meetings you're holding to discuss how you can do your part to make the Pickens Plan happen. I'm grateful for your hard work and glad to be a partner with you in this effort.

If we keep working straight through the first 100 days of the administration of President Obama, we will reach our goal of getting America on the path of energy independence.

-- Boone

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 8, 2009 at 7:25am

FYI--Keath is the DL for AZ08--Thought you would be interested in what other districts are doing!

Comment by Keath Beifus 26 minutes ago
Well we did it...the first group meeting is now a part of history. Thank you all who were able to attend, and to those of you who couldn't make it but responded I appreciate you keeping tabs on what our Group is doing. I also want to thank David for hosting the meeting and giving us the nickle tour of his facility and what SunDanzer is all about.

All total we had 9 people in attendance. Pretty good for the first time. It was a great mix of interesting people from all walks of life with a common goal...action. During our brief introductions, I'm pretty sure everyone used the words "take action" in one form or another.

We actually made it through the agenda, (many thanks to Arvin) and moved forward on our three goals.

For those of you who are on the signature/new member duty, the sign up and pledge sheets are linked in the "Resource Center". I personally will be at the Oro Valley Library this Saturday from 9:00-10:30. They have a Book Fair scheduled so the volume of participants should be pretty good. Also a recommendation from an Oro Valley council member...That same day, the Pima County Democratic Party is having their biennial meeting at Rincon High School, 41 N. Arcadia Blvd. (Arcadia and E. 5th) from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There are approximately 500 people invited to this event, and all are pretty in tune with alternative energy. If any one available to man this station please do.

David has already drafted an Op-Ed piece that is fantastic. I've asked him to post it in this same comment section so you all can read it.

Chuck & Bob are heading up efforts to gain Congresswoman Giffords support. There were a number of us in attendance who have previouly made individual contact with her office and recieved the same polite response. Some great ideas came out during our discussions on how best to approach her office with some new angles and with the support of an organized group.

As the few remaining attendees broke up, we didn't formally schedule our next meeting. We all felt it was important to focus on the first three items and put forth our best effort to accomplish them before January 20th.

If anyone in, or out, of AZ-08 Group has questions, please contact me.

One last personal note... We didn't have the time to discuss details of our personal backrounds, but for those of you who may of had some military service in your past I couldn't help but drive home with a feeling of "Esprit de Corps" http://dictionary.die.net/esprit%20de%20corps.

Thanks...Keath

Comment by Dani Lanz on January 7, 2009 at 10:09am

Greetings!

Lots of signatures being gathered across the United States. How are you doing? Please let me know how I can help! Let's brainstorm some ideas for gathering supporters.

Comment by Dani Lanz on December 22, 2008 at 6:47am

I am excited to introduce you to your District Leader--Kermit Hunt. Kermit will be responsible for directing specific actions of the group and will answer any questions you may have. He will take over communicating with you at this point but I am ALWAYS available for assistance. I live in AZ so I am looking forward to being involved. There are 3 activities we are focusing on right now:
1) Continue to recruit as many supporters as possible to the Pickens Plan. We have a goal of 500 new members PER district. The larger the group the easier it is to get those signatures. In order to make Pickens Plan a reality we need the numbers! Sign up sheets are available for download in the District Leaders resources located HERE. Go ahead and ask everyone you know to start signing up!

2) Organize a meet-up and talk about next steps and how to meet goals and objectives.

3) Submit an op-ed or letter to the editor about why you support the Pickens Plan and why others should to. I can help you draft this or create one yourself.

4) Make phone calls to Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatric's office and ask her to sign the Pledge.

Thank you again for all of your help!

Comment by Dani Lanz on December 14, 2008 at 2:21pm

Hi! Thanks for being here. You have taken a step towards reducing our dependance on foreign oil! Please reach out to everyone you know and encourage them to join UT-03. Join groups in Arizona and encourage members to join their district. Search for other people in your district by using the location city search tool and invite them to join AZ01! We need to build Boone's Army district by district. We will be in touch.

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