Imagine Pickens’ surprise when he discovered that our environmental and economic salvation is to use subsidized wind power to replace the natural gas we now use to generate electricity, and then to use that freed‐up natural gas to power our cars. We could use new wind power to replace dirty coal instead. But that’s not the plan.
All commercials are trying to sell us something. But Pickens’ ad isn’t aimed at us the consumers, but at voters sadly under‐informed and easily stirred by appeals to emotion. The Pickens Plan is not about offering you, the consumer, a choice.
If wind power were more efficient than the alternatives, we’d already be using more of it. If natural gas cars were attractive to consumers, we’d already be driving more of them. The Pickens plan is about getting the government to use its powers to tax, regulate, and subsidize — and pick winners in the energy sector.
When Pickens says:
