Let's back Pickens plan on energy

In 1970, America imported 24 percent of our oil. Today, we import nearly 70 percent and growing.

At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion out of the country this year alone; that's four times the annual cost of the Iraq war. ...

On a happier note, however, there is a solution to the problem. Alternatives such as wind power and natural gas are readily available to us all. The United States is "the Saudi Arabia of wind power," as the Great Plains states have the greatest wind energy potential in the world.

Here's the best part: In one year, a 3-megawatt wind turbine can produce as much energy as 12,000 barrels of imported oil.

Natural gas is the cleanest and most inexpensive fuel available today. In places like Utah and Oklahoma, prices are less than $1 a gallon. This all sounds great, right? However, here's the best part: The hard part of making these changes has already been done for us! A Texas man by the name of T. Boone Pickens, founder and chairman of BP Capital Management, has already laid out his plan and taken the action to make these changes possible. All we have to do is get behind him and support his cause.

T. Boone said it best when he said "our government can ignore 100 of us, but it can't ignore 1 million of us." Mr. Pickens' goal is to have his plan on the top of our next president's agenda, and with only 42 days left until the general election, the time to act is now.

I have joined the 100 Club in an attempt to get 100-plus signatures of citizens who support Boone's plan. We already have thousands and can also report signatures of 17 Congress members and four governors. ...

Dylan Gunnels, Aiken