Detours: a country in search of direction
On the eve of the election, a reporter and photographer set out for Washington, via America. We tell stories from seven towns, touching on seven issues from politics and real life.
Friday Night Rewind It doesn't matter which team you cheer for. We've got video previews of every high school football program in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County.
Game show themes
These themes are probably going to make some of you have flashbacks to wasted mornings or afternoons spent sprawled in front of the TV.
From opposite ends of the political spectrum, oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, left, and former Vice President Al Gore are campaigning for alternative energy sources.
When a Texas oil billionaire and a Nobel Peace Prize winner share the same sense of urgency about the need to develop alternative energy sources, maybe skeptics should listen.
Just days after former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech calling for an elimination of carbon-producing energy sources within 10 years, longtime George W. Bush supporter T. Boone Pickens will be touting his investments in wind energy to the House Democratic Caucus.
Two men on polar opposite sides of the political spectrum are speaking with the same urgency about the need for a change in energy policy to combat global warming. Both say America's dependence on oil is a threat to the nation's security. Both say more drilling won't solve the problem.
Gore is well known for his Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, warning of the catastrophic effects of global warming. He has traveled the world urging political leaders to curb greenhouse gas emissions and invest in alternative fuel sources.
Now Pickens has taken up the cause after making his fortune in oil. He created a Web site — pickensplan.com — unveiling his plan to fuel cars with natural gas and to harness wind energy for most of America's needs. And he is investing $300-million to build the largest wind farm in the world in Texas.
President Bush should take note of the Gore-Pickens Green Team. The Republican who helped bankroll the Swift Boat attack ads on Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign has found common ground with Bill Clinton's vice president on the issue of climate change.
If nothing else, maybe Pickens can persuade Bush to switch to wind power at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
[Last modified: Jul 23, 2008 03:37 PM]
Comments on this article
by Andy
Jul 23, 2008 3:37 PM
Pickens hasn't said anything about his plan being about Global Warming. It's about the unsustainability of $700 billion a year leaving the country. And he has invested far more than $300 million. Maybe you should do some fact checking first.
by bill
Jul 23, 2008 3:29 PM
Yes it's all about the money. But if we are so full of ourselves to think that we are so important that we could cause or prevent global change we must be on crack. Recycling and non poluting are good things and should be done, but won't change stuff
by VJ
Jul 23, 2008 3:27 PM
Dave, what's your point? Are you whinning like John McCain is whinning about *the surge*? There's a new dirty word, buddy; it's conservative. Everyone knows it and in November we will finally boot out the conservative fools that have controlled America for decades.
by Dave
Jul 22, 2008 5:04 PM
Right, Jimmy. The Times is full of liberal idiots who don't realize that Pickens invested $300m in wind turbines to prop up the value of his oil holdings. Glad you're on the case, buddy.
by Reggie
Jul 22, 2008 4:47 PM
Moving forward with new clean energy is in America's best interest. Oil is the dirty past and wind along with solar is our clean future. Oil-our dependence on Mid-East oil/war. Wind- our independence of American "Can Do" technology.
by Tom
Jul 22, 2008 4:47 PM
I think Pickens put up $10 Billion. Also does Florida Power and Florida Power and Light proposed Nuclear Power Plants meet these greener energy concepts?
by ray
Jul 22, 2008 4:13 PM
Please don't fawn over Mr. Pickens. His affection for this 'cause' is like everything else he does - "it's all about the money." From NewsWeek: "There are no turbines on my ranch, because I think they are ugly." http://www.newsweek.com/id/145851
by Tee
Jul 22, 2008 4:11 PM
The whole Republican, conservative (especially Christians) sect should be ashamed of themselves for poo-pooing the whole global warming thing. We can thank idiots like Bush and Rush Limbaugh for selling middle-hick America that it is OK to kill the planet.
by aj
Jul 22, 2008 3:41 PM
Warming is ONLY the natural evelution of the sun and planets and little to nothing to do with humans. But we need to find other sources of energy to ADD to our oil usage. Drill NOW, start building NOW, develop NOW!
by Richard
Jul 22, 2008 3:36 PM
Jimmy, even if no one at the Times has a brain, I do! I like wind power, and if natural gas costs less to run my car, no matter what Pikens has invested, it's good for everybody. Do you have a brain?
by jimmy
Jul 21, 2008 8:19 PM
there is zero analysis here. Mr Pickens owns huge domestic oil holdings. He has NO INTEREST in seeing expanded US drilling/exploration. Does no one at the Times have a brain?
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