100 Action Steps, Part One

Lord Byron once said: "But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling, like dew, upon a thought produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think." That's the beauty of The PickensPlan grass roots movement - one old Texas cowboy and oilman has inspired tens of thousands, soon to be hundreds of thousands, and perhaps even millions.

But inspiration and thought is not enough, and it is readily apparent that nearly all of the members who join The Pickens Plan are searching for the opportunity to participate in making real change occur. "Action" is defined as "to exert energy or some force" and "to be operative." The challenge that lies before us involves taking T. Boone Pickens' inspirational call, and the many members of TPP who have responded, and encouraging their energy and passion to be exerted toward a small series of goals. The completion of each operative act will bring with it some sense of accomplishment, which in turn motivates the actor to reach out again.

Leadership is not about directing. It is, first and foremost, about service to others. It is about providing the resources to enable motivated persons to achieve. Sam Houston, the first President of that former nation they now call the State of Texas, once stated: "A leader is someone who helps improve the lives of other people or improve the system they live under."

I encourage each one of you to "lead," and not just complain about any lack of leadership or lack of organization. FIND A WAY to act, personally or in conjunction with others. Or seek to enable another to achieve. Find a way to overcome whatever limitations may exist. Let us use all the tools we have been given to reach out to others, at least until those tools are improved. Inspire others, collaborate with them, encourage them, and praise their accomplishments. Working together, in small steps at first, and then united in larger ones, we will all succeed.

Together we can, and will, make a difference. As the Pickens Plan states: "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."

While some others may see imperfection, I see opportunities to improve upon ideas. While a few others may see insurmountable challenges, I see a rising tide able to scale mountainous cliffs and reach the summit. While others may predict failure, I see both hope and a real chance to make a difference in the lives of all Americans. I see actions being taken now to lay the necessary foundations for a greater tomorrow.

Thank you for being here, and collaborating with others on the many projects needed to make The Pickens Plan become a reality.

After the actions steps below, I’ll offer my own perspective on a possible future for the Pickens Plan. But this future cannot occur without actions being undertaken now – to build Boone’s Army, to reach out to policy makers, and to take individual and collective action to conserve energy and to encourage alternative energy production.
Now, on to the “Action Steps” – there are others to be thought of. Please share your ideas for actions steps, both here and in other areas of the Pickens Plan site. Thank you. Ron

100 ACTION STEPS YOU CAN TAKE NOW.

1. EXPLORE the push.pickensplan.com site.

a. We recommend you begin on the main page, ”About” at the very top of the page. Review “The Plan” in its entirety, and then go on to learn more about T. Boone Pickens.

b. We recommend that you then proceed to “Forum” and the discussion “Useful Information: START HERE for Boone's Army.”
i. See the “Bulletin” for some answers to frequently asked questions.
ii. See the “List of Groups” which is posted.
iii. Review some of the flyers and other documents which can be downloaded, saved, and printed.

c. From there … explore!!! There are many, many “Groups” and “Discussions” underway. There is a wealth of information to learn, and you will see members who are reaching out to others, undertaking actions now, and advocating various solutions.

2. UPDATE Yourself on Recent Developments. Check out the recent “News” about the Pickens Plan. See very top of each page - “News.”

3. ORGANIZE. Review the “Groups” already formed and join one or more.

a. A partial listing of same can be found later in the Forum Discussion, “Useful Information: START HERE for Boone's Army”.

b. You may also search the Groups by keyword.

c. Under the “Notes” section of the site is a “List of Groups by State,” which is periodically updated.

d. Start a new group if you don’t find a group that meets your interest or community. Contribute to the groups that you join through discussions, helpful suggestions, links to news articles and information, and positive feedback.

4. CREATE YOUR PROFILE on Your Own Page at PickensPlan.com

5. SHARE the Plan - E-mail your friends to visit www.push.pickensplan.com and encourage them to get involved.

6. SHARE the Plan - To post a “badge” on your website or blog or social network (MySpace, Facebook, Linkin, Twitter, etc.), see http://www.pickensplan.com/share/.

7. SHARE the Plan - Invite your acquaintances using the “Invite to ‘PickensPlan” tool at http://push.pickensplan.com/main/invitation/new. We recommend that you “test out” this function first.

Please note that an “army” is needed for The Pickens Plan to possess enough influence over our elected leaders, and to undertake the efforts necessary to provide the substantive foundation for policy positions.

8. ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN AN EVENT.

a. To see a list of upcoming events, visit http://push.pickensplan.com/events/event/listUpcoming.

b. Local / state / regional groups may also host their own events. Stay in contact with the groups in your area.

9. HOST A “PICKENSPLAN HOUSE PARTY.”

10. HOST A “PICKENSPLAN TAILGATE PARTY” AT YOUR NEXT FOOTBALL GAME.

11. SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE IN GROUPS AND DISCUSSION FORUMS. Whether it be technical in nature, organizing, education, writing, researching, lobbying, or just communicating with others, lend your personal strengths to this grass roots effort. In addition to joining a group and participating in same, consider posing questions or answering them in the Discussion Forums, located at http://push.pickensplan.com/forum.

12. COMMUNICATE USING THE SITE.
a. Add comments to Group discussions.
b. Add comments to Forum Discussion.
c. Add comments to others pages.
d. Send an e-mail. Don’t forget to check your “Inbox” (located on your “MyPage”) for messages from others, and send out e-mails to others.

13. BUILD YOUR OWN NETWORK OF “FRIENDS.” On your “MyPage,” let people know if you are interested in becoming an organizer, your experiences with alternative energy, what excites you about this campaign, and what you desire to do to help. Upload your photo, and change the “Theme” of your home page. Add “Friends” and accept invitations from friends. Make comments on the pages of other individuals who have joined The Pickens Plan. Welcome new members, and suggest to them how they might get involved (invite questions!). Read comments others have posted on your home page. Remain involved, and be supportive and encouraging of others. “Please be encouraged about getting to know fellow members; they are this site’s greatest natural resource. Businessmen and inventors are gathering; communicators and those needing ready-to-roll documents are finding each other; the idea artists and journeymen tradespeople have entered our effort. Making ‘friends’ here, communicating with each other and rolling up our sleeves are vital, as we are the people who will achieve this mission … We are pioneers carving out new space and industry from territory waiting for us to explore it. Like our founders and forebears, we love and respect the land that sustains us. That this initiative is not directly of the earth but rather of all that surrounds us—clean and fresh—makes our expeditionary work a question of resolve … Be of good cheer, folks. We are advancing the Pickens Plan.” (Thanks to member MRW for these words of encouragement.)

14. START A GROUP FOR EVERY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY - BOTH STUDENTS AND ALUMNI.

15. HOLD RALLIES AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES PRIOR TO FOOTBALL OR BASKETBALL OR OTHER GAMES AT ANOTHER STADIUM OR AUDITORIUM. Make certain the college has a "Group" at PickensPlan.com for coordination of members, and use the "Events" to publish events.

16. GET COLLEGE PROFESSORS INVOLVED - PARTICULARLY ANY WHO MAY BE WORKING ON ENERGY-RELATED PROJECTS.

17. GET THE COLLEGE'S NEWSPAPER TO WRITE ARTICLES ABOUT THE STUDENT MOVEMENT.

18. PRINT, DISTRIBUTE AND POST FLYERS AND OTHER PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS ON CAMPUS, directing students and faculty to the Push.PickensPlan.com site and to the student/faculty/alumni "Group" established thereunder.

19. GET STUDENTS TO GET THEIR PARENTS AND OTHERS “ON THE BALL.” Encourage all students to reach out to their parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and family friends to also join and support the Pickens Plan. Students can be a huge boost to the engine that drives this grassroots movement forward.

20. CONTACT THE US. CONGRESS.

a. Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml, the official Federal government website for sending emails or snail mail to the President, Vice-President, Senators, Representatives, state Governors, and state-level Legislators.

b. Note that the Senate and House leadership are the ones with the real power in Washington. From my experience, this is true, as power has definitely shifted away from Committee Chairs and to the leadership. Here's the web sites for contacting the key leaders in Congress about the Pickens Plan (in addition to your own Congressperson and U.S. Senators):
i. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: http://speaker.house.gov/contact/
ii. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/">http://reid.senate.gov/contact/
iii. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: http://mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm">http://mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm

c. The "Write Congress" group has a couple of letters posted of a general nature about the Pickens Plan. See http://push.pickensplan.com/group/writecongress.

21. ADVOCATE IN THE U.S. CONGRESS FOR AN EXTENSION IN CONGRESS OF THE PTC: Per the AWEA, "The wind energy industry needs bipartisan cooperation on Production Tax Credit (PTC) extension. On June 17, the Senate again failed to move forward with the House of Representatives’ proposed one-year PTC extension. Bipartisan cooperation on Capitol Hill is needed to successfully move a PTC extension forward. Without rapid legislative action, the PTC will expire at the end of 2008. To maintain existing jobs and to continue growing thousands of new jobs, it is vital that Congress acts quickly to extend the PTC. Should we enter late summer without a PTC extension, wind industry investment in 2009 and later will be in jeopardy. A recent study by Navigant Consulting shows that 116,000 jobs and more than $19 billion in investment in the wind and solar industries are at risk if the renewable energy tax credits are not extended."

As David Baker points out (Thanks, David): “TBP sat before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in June 08. There were two points he kept referring to that Congress could do to expedite the immediate construction of Large Scale Alt Energy farms/plants: 1. Maintaining and/or increasing the Production Tax Credit (PTC), a tax incentive mechanism for companies involved in manufacturing and installing alt energy components.”

22. ADVOCATE IN THE U.S. CONGRESS FOR RECOGNITION THAT THIS IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY. Again, David Baker was kind to provide this information about T. Boone Pickens’ testimony to the U.S. Congress, as to a second thing Congress could do: “The recognition by Congress that this is a National Emergency, leading to the ability of the Executive branch to act under Emergency Powers and significantly diminishing the time frame in getting these wind and solar projects started.”

23. ADVOCATE IN CONGRESS FOR SUPPORT OF THE DRIVE AMERICA ON NATURAL GAS ACT. “Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma Introduces Drive America on Natural Gas Act and we need to show our support. This is a first step on the road to energy independence. Below is the contact page. http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Contac.... Here is Senator James M. Inhofes website: http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Pres .... The regulations of certification are addressed in a way to open up the market. Currently the EPA forces manufacturers to pay $100,000 to $200,000 dollars to certify a conversion system. In addition, the systems had to be recertified every year. The Drive America on Natural Gas Act addresses many of these issues.” Thank you to whoever provided this information.

24. CONTACT STATE OFFICIALS ABOUT COMMUNITY / HOMEOWNER / CONDO ASSOCIATION RESTRICTIONS. Many HOAs have provisions that restrict solar panels. There is a law in California that overrides that." Sounds like a law needed in other states, to the extent they have not enacted same yet. Thanks, “SJC” for this idea.

25. CONTACT STATE OFFICIALS TO SEEK STATEWIDE LAW MANDATING NET METERING (IF NOT ALREADY DONE IN YOUR STATE). Al Gore recently stated: "We ought to have a law that allows homeowners and small-business people to put up photovoltaic generators and small windmills and any other new sources of widely distributed generation that they can come up with and allow them to sell that electricity into the grid without any artificial caps, at a rate that is determined not by a monopsony - that's the flip side of a monopoly. You can have the tyranny of a single seller; you can also have the tyranny of a single buyer, and if the utility sets the price then it'll never get off the ground. But if it's a tariff regulated according to what the market for electricity is ... then, you might never need another central station generating plant. In the same way that the Internet took off and stimulated the information revolution, we could see a revolution across this country with small-scale generation of electricity everywhere. Let people sell it! Don't reserve it for the single big seller." Regardless of how you feel about Al Gore, there is no doubt that T. Boone Pickens also supports net metering.

26. CONTACT STATE OFFICIALS TO IMPROVE BUILDING CODES. State agency combined green building standards were adopted by the California Building Standards Commission on July 17, 2008: "The California Building Standards Commission has taken the opportunity, along with other state agencies, to develop green building standards that will establish California as a leader in the efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from structures. The code as adopted includes mandatory features with a delayed effective date for housing, and voluntary standards for hospitals and other non-residential occupancies. The commission will continue to work with state agencies and the many stakeholders as we develop a comprehensive set of mandatory provisions in the 2010 edition of the California Building Standards Code." Seek to get every state legislature mandate the use of similar (or even better) standards.

27. CONTACT STATE OFFICIALS TO PROVIDE TAX CREDITS OR REBATES FOR INSTALLATION OF SOLAR OR WIND OR OTHER ALTERNATIVE FUEL TECHNOLOGIES. Provide tax credits or rebates for energy saving activities including home energy conservation initiatives, installation of solar technologies (PV and Solar Thermal) at homes, businesses, etc.

28. CONTACT LOCAL OFFICIALS AND FIND OUT THEIR POSITION. Although it’s important to make our voices heard in Washington, D.C., and at the state level, it’s equally important to make an impact on elected officials at the local level, who are often the ones responsible for such tasks as the updates necessary for the electrical grid system to accept power from alternative energy sources.

29. CONTACT STATE OR LOCAL OFFICIALS ABOUT ADVERTISING SIGNS AND BILLBOARDS. "The public should petition their local governments to adopt rules that turn off all advertising lights and lighted billboards, except for businesses which remain open, after 1:00 a.m." Thanks, Susan, for this idea.

30. ENCOURAGE YOUR TOWN (IF YOU ARE LOCATED IN A GOOD WIND AREA) TO BECOME A “WINDY TOWN” OR (IF YOU ARE LOCATED IN A GOOD SUN AREA) A “SUNNY TOWN.”

a. From Science Daily, (July 16, 2008) — "Rock Port Missouri, with a population of just over 1,300 residents, has announced that it is the first 100% wind powered community in the United States. Four wind turbines supply all the electricity for the small town. Rock Port’s 100% wind power status is due to four wind turbines located on agricultural lands within the city limits of Rock Port (Atchison County). The city of Rock Port uses approximately 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. It is predicted that these four turbines will produce 16 million kilowatt hours each year. Excess wind generated electricity not used by Rock Port homes and businesses is expected to be move onto the transmission lines to be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities for use in other areas ... The alternative-energy source also benefits landowners, who can make anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 leasing part of their property for wind turbines ... 'We're farming the wind, which is something that we have up here,' Crawford said. 'The payback on a per-acre basis is generally quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, and it's as simple as getting a cup of coffee and watching the blades spin' ... 'It's a savings for the community in general, savings for the rural electric companies, and it does provide electricity service over at least a 20-year time period, which is the anticipated life of these turbines,' [MU Extension community development specialist Jerry] Baker said."

b. We need more information about doing this in other communities - the economics of it all, the economics of current solar thermal technologies, potential governmental or non-governmental sources of funding for such projects, whether muni bonds can be issued to support such projects' capital costs, etc.

SEE NEXT POST FOR REMAINING IDEAS, AND FOR COMMENTARY ABOUT THE POSSIBLE FUTURE OF THE PICKENS PLAN. THANK YOU.