T. Boone Pickens

Given that the United States is sustaining major economic damage through its dependence on foreign oil to meet its energy demands, and that the situation promises to get only worse, we are delighted to recommend consideration of a comprehensive plan proposed by energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens.

Pickens proposed July 8 an energy-independence plan in which wind farms would be built in appropriate areas of the country to help cover the electricity needs of America, thereby enabling our nation to shift its abundant supply of natural gas to serve as a transportation fuel.

In envisioning a world of $200-a-barrel oil, the so-called Pickens Plan could cut oil imports by as much as 38 percent, he said.However, it also would first require a hefty investment of more than $1 trillion in wind farms on an unusually breezy stretch of countryside extending from Texas to North Dakota.

“Our dependence on imported oil is killing our economy,” Pickens said in a statement. “It is the single biggest problem facing America today.”

He called the country’s oil purchases from places like Saudi Arabia “the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind, sending billions of our dollars overseas to buy ... a commodity that lasts 90 days until burned in our gas tanks.”

Worse, the U.S. and its allies are enriching some of our worst enemies — terrorist-supporting countries in the Middle East, as well as venomous Venezuela and no-account Nigeria — while putting our economy at their mercy, to the tune of $700 billion per year.

While some critics have noted that Pickens, who has been an ultra-successful Texas oilman, likely is expecting to profit from his proposal, others have countered that although that may be so, everyone else would benefit, too.

To his credit, Pickens has not tried to hide that he is heavily invested in natural gas and wind power. He also has put his money where his mouth is by investing heavily with his money and time in a major advertising campaign to promote his plan.

Pickens said his plan could change things within five to 10 years “if we can get Congress and the administration to act quickly.”

Another big question mark is getting the auto industry to cooperate by manufacturing more vehicles that run on natural gas instead of gasoline. Another question is whether the oil industry would support new energy priorities.

The wind power would replace the natural gas now used by power plants to generate electricity. The U.S. currently gets about 22 percent of its power from natural gas.

The liberated natural gas, in turn, would be applied to fueling millions of vehicles that now run on gasoline but would be converted to run instead on compressed natural gas. Details on how and at whose cost this conversion would be made are unclear.

Pickens told The Associated Press that he wasn’t guided by personal gain. “I’m doing it for America,” he said.

We have no doubt that the profit motive has always driven Pickens, but he also harbors in his heart a Texas-size streak of patriotism for the U.S. — a nation through which he has achieved so much.