Gamecocks for Cleaner, Independent Energy

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Comment by Ed Matricardi on December 5, 2008 at 1:55pm

As we approach the new year (and get ready for the new WH Administration & Congress), we are shifting gears to begin recruiting Pickens Plan District Leaders in every congressional district to help with activities in the coming months.

Please let me know if you are interested in serving as a District Leader in your area and I will get you additional information.

Thanks.

Comment by Ed Matricardi on November 24, 2008 at 9:21am

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20081124/OPINION/811240301/1008

Breaking imported oil addiction must be top priority
BY REP. JEFF DUNCAN • NOVEMBER 24, 2008

Here in the Southeast, we recently saw severe gas shortages because of Hurricane Ike. All along the I-85 corridor, you couldn't find stations with gas, and when you did, you paid a steep premium for it. It was reminiscent of the 1970s oil crisis. The problem is despite the falling gas prices today, we are still going to be in a modern day oil crisis.

During this election, you undoubtedly saw the ads featuring Texas wildcat oilman Boone Pickens talking about our nation's addiction to foreign oil. He does a very good job in laying out the problem. And unlike most elected officials in Washington, he has a plan to solve the problem: Use America's abundance of wind and natural gas to break us of our addition to foreign oil.

Today we import some 70 percent of the oil we consume and we pay approximately $700 billion per year for it. As a country, we spend as much as the Wall Street bailout is projected to cost every year on imported oil. And forecasts show that we will continue to import more going forward unless we do something to change it.

In Washington, the solution of the day is "drill here, drill now." While that may make a good bumper sticker slogan, I think it's shortsighted and misses the mark. Drilling is good, but we need a lot more than that.

We need to take advantage of every resource we have here at home to provide energy. This does include more drilling, but also needs to include using clean coal, increased use of natural gas for transportation, looking at nuclear and investing in renewable resources.

The Pickens Plan uses power generated with wind to replace power generated from natural gas. The natural gas that wouldn't be needed for power generation could then be used to fuel large truck and fleet vehicles like city buses, municipal trash trucks and even some big city taxi fleets. This will cut down on the amount of oil consumed and lower the amount we spend on importing oil.

What I like most about the Pickens Plan is that instead of continuing to send $700 billion per year overseas for oil, we can start to invest some of the savings the United States. By investing in wind, natural gas, solar, cellulosic ethanol and a whole host of other renewable technologies here in the United States, we are investing in our economy, our jobs and our future.

Here in South Carolina, we could reap the benefits of those new technologies and new jobs.

That's one reason I have signed the Pickens Energy Independence Pledge and urge my fellow elected officials at all levels of government to do the same at www.pickensplan.com. As elected officials we have to show true leadership on this issue if we are going to break our addiction to imported oil.

Pickens has been asked several times why someone at his age -- he's 80 years old, by the way -- would be spending as much time and money as he is on this. His answer is simple. It's not for him, it's for our children and grandchildren. If we don't do something to tackle this problem now, their standard of living is at risk.

I have children of my own, and completely understand his answer.

Comment by Ed Matricardi on November 22, 2008 at 8:33am

5 SC Mayors Sign Pickens Pledge for Energy Independence

To date, 168 Mayors across the nation have signed the Pickens Pledge, joining T. Boone Pickens’ national campaign to reduce foreign oil imports by utilizing abundant domestic resources including wind power and natural gas.

In SC, the following Mayors have signed the pledge:
http://www.pickensplan.com/news/2008/11/21/mayors/

Mary Clark, Mayor, Camden
Joseph Riley, Mayor, Charleston
Floyd Nicholson, Mayor, Greenwood
Kevin Johnson, Mayor, Manning
Doug Echols, Mayor, Rock Hill

If your Mayor is not on the list, contact their office today and urge them to sign the pledge for energy independence!

For a complete list of Mayors who have signed the pledge, please visit:
http://www.pickensplan.com/news/2008/11/21/mayors/

Thanks.

Comment by M2 on November 1, 2008 at 7:44am

JOBS UPDATE
Thousands of new GREEN JOBS are now posted on GREEN JOBS NOW! group page. Join the group today and we will keep you informed. http://push.pickensplan.com/group/greenjobsnowcom
Tell your friends looking for a job to sign up on the PickensPlan and upload their resume FREE at: www.green-jobs-now.com
Melissa
coordinator@green-jobs-now.com

Comment by Ed Matricardi on October 31, 2008 at 4:30pm

SC Governor Mark Sanford signed the pickens pledge today. can you go to this blog and post a favorable comment?? it would really be helpful. we need to support the governor for going out on a limb for us. let me know what you think. thanks.

http://schotlinepress.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/governor-sanford-signs-pickens-pledge/

Comment by Ed Matricardi on October 31, 2008 at 9:30am

We need to deliver a copy of the Pickens Petition to both the Obama & McCain state HQs before Election Day...thus far, no one has stepped forward to volunteer in SC...please let me know who can take a couple of minutes to drop it off and send us pictures of the delivery that we can post on the website and use with media outreach. thanks!

Comment by Ed Matricardi on October 16, 2008 at 10:46am

Region ripe for energy jobs?
Forum speakers cite demand, incentives as a nuclear renaissance takes root in the area.

By Bruce Henderson
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
Growing energy demand and government incentives for renewable fuels make the Charlotte region ripe for a surge of new energy-related jobs, speakers said at an economic forum Wednesday.

Global investments in energy from the sun, wind and other renewable sources are soaring as a predicted renaissance in nuclear power takes root in Charlotte's backyard, industry experts told an audience hosted by the Charlotte Regional Partnership.

The nonprofit agency encourages economic development in a 16-county region of both Carolinas.

What's unknown: whether the global financial crisis will scare off lenders and investors, especially in renewable energy. And whether schools and universities can turn out enough grads to staff high-tech energy firms.

“This is the challenge – matching graduates with the needs of industry,” said Steve Patterson, whose job is to help make that happen.

He's the first director of UNC Charlotte's Energy Production and Infrastructure Center, or EPIC, which intends to produce both a technical work force and technological advances.

Access to capital in a financially dry marketplace will also pose a major challenge, added Mike Horkey, who finances energy efficiency and “green” energy projects for Banc of America Leasing. Many projects involving renewables need longer than average financing, he said, compounding the problem.

“A lot of people have mistakenly thought that the sun is free, the wind and wave action is free,” Horkey said. “It's the conversion of the resources to energy that's not cheap.”

Other speakers included John Sisson, whose InSite Consulting helps companies find new locations worldwide; Duke Energy Carolinas president Ellen Ruff; and Randall Taylor, an executive with the engineering giant URS Corp.

The Charlotte region has shared in the growth that is watching global investment in renewables grow between 20 percent and 60 percent a year.

Duke Energy, meanwhile, is adding to its conventional power fleet for the first time in decades. Duke is building a new coal-fired unit at its Cliffside coal-fired power plant 50 miles west of Charlotte and plans a new nuclear plant just south of Cliffside near Gaffney, S.C.

In the past year, Sencera International Group announced it will invest $36.8 million to build a solar-module factory in Mecklenburg County. Finland-based Metso Power is building a $13.2 million boiler manufacturing plant in Lancaster County, S.C., where the engineering firm URS/ Washington Group brought 400 jobs for a nuclear-design facility. Shaw Power Group added 500 design and engineering jobs in its Charlotte location.

A study last month for the American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness, a pro-nuclear group, estimated that South Carolina could generate more than 50,800 new jobs, tops in the nation, if a new wave of nuclear power plants are built. North Carolina could see 20,700 new jobs, the report said.

Subscribe to The Charlotte Observer & Earn Miles.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/256349.html

Comment by Ed Matricardi on October 16, 2008 at 10:43am

Is the future of N. Carolina's electric power blowing in the wind?

By LIZ MITCHELL lmitchell@islandpacket.com
Published Sunday, October 12, 2008

Five years from now, 210-foot-tall wind turbines could be spinning off South Carolina's coast, generating electric power.

That's the prediction from the S.C. Energy Office, which was recently awarded a $500,000, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the potential for generating wind energy off the coast. Clemson and Coastal Carolina universities and the Savannah River National Lab are also participating in the research.

"The purpose of this (grant) is to develop all the necessary regulations and get a better feel for what's available (in wind resources offshore)," said Erika Hartwig of the state energy office.

EXAMINING THE RESOURCES

The state hopes to build an 80-megawatt wind farm of between 12 and 15 turbines about 3 miles offshore. On a clear day, the turbines would be faintly visible from the beach, Hartwig said.

One megawatt of wind power can produce enough electricity to serve 250 to 300 homes on average each day, according to the DOE.

The pilot project could serve between 20,000 and 24,000 homes.

It would be paid for by utility companies interested in using the power that's generated, Hartwig said. The wind farm location would be determined from studies now under way, but the most likely sites would be between Charleston and North Carolina, Hartwig said.

"The wind field drops offshore as you go south," said Paul Gayes, director of the Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal Carolina. "Here at the Grand Strand and on Hilton Head (Island), there is a large demand for power right along the coast. ... (However) wind energy is not as viable (off Hilton Head)."

The farther off from shore the turbines move, the more expensive wind energy becomes.

In addition to potentially harnessing the wind, the grant provides money to study other possible energy sources, including tidal flows and wave currents, Gayes said.

"There are very strong tides in Hilton Head where turbines driven by tidal flow are feasible," he said. "Part of this overall cooperative is looking at how to integrate all the resources that are out there."

THE TOOLS

Ralph Nichols, an engineer at the Savannah River National Lab, said the best way to measure the potential of coastal wind, wave and tidal energy is to use data-collecting technologies.

Buoys, for instance, can measure wave speed, height and temperature.

A 6-foot cube-like box called a sodar can measure wind speed and direction. The box can be placed atop buildings onshore or on platforms in the ocean and measure wind data up to 600 feet high, Nichols said.

Aside from assessing the resources, Nichols said, the study will also:

• Identify the needs and barriers of integrating offshore wind energy into the power grid.

• Identify technology that can transfer the power to the shore.

• Establish a state task force to determine the economic and environmental effects of wind energy and create a permitting process for wind farms in state waters.

THE BENEFITS

Off the coast of South Carolina, winds are estimated to blow between 15 and 16 miles per hour, fast enough to power a wind farm, Nichols said.

"The power you can get out of wind is very strongly related to" wind speed, he said. "If you double the wind speed, you can increase your amount of power by eight times (based on current modeling)."

Nichols said wind power could help decrease the Palmetto State's dependence on other states for energy and boost local economies.

"Wind by itself won't power the whole state, but it can certainly help," he said.

"And, in some of our most congested places, the population ... is expected to grow 20 to 30 percent in the next 30 years. It's hard to get nuclear and coal-powered plants permitted, much less built. So I hope (wind is) one way we can meet the increasing demand."

WHAT IS WIND ENERGY?
Wind energy is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the Earth's surface and the rotation of the Earth.

Wind energy or wind power describes the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical power, which can then be converted into electricity.

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/636429.html

Comment by Ed Matricardi on October 4, 2008 at 7:18pm

Tuesday night after the next Presidential debate, we are going to host the largest e-Rally ever for energy independence!

On October 7 at 10 pm EDT, just before the Presidential debate ends, log on to PickensPlan.com to rally and show the politicians that we mean business!

We have their attention - but what you do right now matters more than ever. Click here to RSVP now to attend the Pickens Plan e-Rally on Tuesday night. You can also click here to leave a comment asking the two candidates to support the Pickens Plan.

During the debate the candidates will have their say. Now it's time for you to have your say. We will deliver your comments and the comments of everyone who attends the e-Rally to both Presidential candidates within 48 hours of the end of the Presidential debate.

Also, we need you to do one more thing - find one friend and ask them to attend the e-Rally with you. How big can we grow this e-Rally? How many Americans will join our New Energy Army and join this e-Rally for energy independence? Only you can answer that question!

We have tremendous momentum, over 13,000 strong joined our post debate chat for energy independence after the last Presidential debate. You won't want to miss this event! RSVP right now and forward this email on to a friend today!

Comment by Andy Collazo on September 25, 2008 at 8:30pm

Folks, I’m so excited to announce Pickens U is finally here! Please feel free to contact me for details.

Pickens U is a new Pickens site specifically designed for students and alumni from colleges and universities across the United States who support energy independence for America.

Outreach on college campuses will be a critical component of our effort to build an Army of 1,000,000 supporters. We plan to mobilize students and alumni of colleges across America to support the Pickens Plan and prepare to take action during the first 100 days of the new Administration.

There are hundreds of college campuses across America, and we are interested in having Pickens Plan chapters on as many of them as possible – from small community colleges to liberal arts schools to prominent institutions to the largest state universities. The key is to find a motivated campus coordinator and an enthusiastic student population – with the right people in place, even the smallest of schools can make a big difference.

http://push.pickensplan.com/collegeMain.php

And best of all, we are in need of Campus Coordinators. This is an exceptional opportunity for a student or alumni to represent their College or University in a leadership role within Pickens Plan New Energy Army.

As a Campus Coordinator you will be responsible for the following:

o Be the public point of contact for their chapter of the Pickens Plan
o Recruit as many students as possible to be supporters of the Pickens Plan, with a particular focus on getting students to join our social networks on Facebook and/or Push.PickensPlan.com
o Host 1-2 events on campus between now and Inauguration Day to raise awareness for the Pickens Plan and recruit supporters
o Assist the New Energy Army regional leader with maintaining chapter webpages on Facebook and Push.PickensPlan.com
o Organize calls to action when we need Pickens Plan supporters from their chapter to contact their elected officials or take other action

The Pickens Plan is a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buying us time to develop even greater new technologies.

Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years. But it will take leadership.

On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office.

We're organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration.

Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America's energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability.

You can start changing America's future today by supporting the Pickens Plan. Visit our website at www.pickensplan.com to join us. Email me directly for more exciting news.

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