About Time

Big time investors are starting to put money into green energy. It needs to be done. Once the rich white men have a stake in wind and solar, they will stop fighting it just to be assholes.

Next month, Pickens' company, Mesa Power, will begin buying land and ordering 2,700 wind turbines that will eventually generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity - the equivalent of building two commercial scale nuclear power plants - enough power for about 1 million homes.[...]

But Pickens is not out to save the planet. He intends to make money.

Though Pickens admits that wind power won't be as lucrative as oil deals, he still expects the Texas project to turn at least a 25 percent return.

"When I go into these markets, I expect to make money on them," Pickens said. "I don't expect to lose."

America is facing a looming power crunch, with electricity demand expected to grow 15 percent in a decade. And while many states have rejected big coal-fired power projects on environmental concerns, they are offering a bounty of incentives to build renewable sources.

Once the rich white men have a dog in the race, things will start to move forward.