By Kevin Woster, Journal staff

When Texas oil-and-gas mogul T. Boone Pickens comes to Rapid City on Wednesday, Aug. 20,

to pitch his alternative-energy plan, it won't be his first stop in South Dakota.

"Sure, I've been there," Pickens said Tuesday from Las Vegas, where he joined U.S. Senate

Majority Leader Harry Reid and others for an energy conference. "I think I drilled a dry hole in

South Dakota. But of all the people you'll ever know, I've probably drilled more dry holes than any

of them."

And the wet holes?

"Oh yeah, I've had a few of those, too."

Indeed, Pickens has had enough productive wells to become a billionaire in the oil-and-gas

industry. And now, the 80-year-old oilman-turned-renewable-energy activist is on a one-man -

with what he hopes will be millions of citizen supporters, of course - crusade to change the way

America powers its cars and trucks, heats its homes and businesses and brings light to its

cities.

He is also hoping to wrestle some of the control for the nation's energy well-being away from

nations that might wish America harm.

Pickens is traveling the country to promote his "Pickens Plan," which would use wind and solar

power to produce enough electricity to replace what is currently supplied by natural gas. Then

that natural gas would be used as a transportation fuel, allowing the United States to reduce its

reliance on foreign oil.

"And know this: When you go to natural gas as a transportation fuel, it'll be half the cost of

gasoline," Pickens said.

It will also require a major reconfiguration of the energy production system and transmission grid

in the United States, as well as a substantial switch to natural-gas-powered vehicles. Pickens

said that is all possible and even necessary and would help strengthen national security be

allowing the nation to be more energy independent.

And since South Dakota sits in the middle of what Pickens calls the "wind corridor" from Texas

to Canada, the state would be heavily involved in such development, he said.

"I don't think you'd see too much solar with the present technology," he said. "But you would see

wind. And the landowners will love it, because it's royalty income to them."

Those landowners would include Native American tribes in western South Dakota, who could

realize crucial financial benefits from wind-powered electricity systems, Pickens said.

Pickens will talk specifics during a free public meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Rushmore Plaza

Civic Center. And he'll make much the same pitch that he has made in communities across the

Midwest and Great Plains about the need to rework the nation's energy system.

"Rapid City will be just like Topeka and Le Mars and places like that. It'll be Americans,

Midwesterners, the central part of this nation, and their concerns about energy," Pickens said.

"Those concerns were triggered by the $3.50 and $4 gasoline. And I didn't think the people were

being told the whole story about energy. So I said I'll tell them myself."

Along with the telling, Pickens will also do some asking. He wants people to pledge their support

at his Web site, www.pickensplan.com, where more information about the plan is available.

"I want them to sign up, and then I'll get in touch with them and give some directions, and we'll

work together and get this plan to our representatives," Pickens said. "I'm going to tell them how

this plan fits and what the solution is."

Pickens' South Dakota memories

Pickens said that drilling a dry hole or two wasn't his only experience in South Dakota. He also

remembers hunting pheasants near Mitchell and Winner. The Mitchell hunt stands out in

particular, even though it took place more than 60 years ago.

"It was in the fall of 1946, October, and I was with my dad and two other guys," Pickens said. "It

was beautiful October weather. I remember we were in short sleeves."

When informed that South Dakota had one of its best pheasant crops in state history in 1946,

Pickens said: "Oh, I know. It was fabulous."

Pickens came back to hunt near Winner in the 1960s, with good success again. But he's not

planning any more pheasant hunts in the state.

"At my age, I don't get out and chase them around anymore."

If you go

What: T. Boone Pickens town-hall meeting

When: 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20; doors open to the public at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Rushmore Hall at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City

More: Pickens will outline his Pickens Plan, in which he identifies the single biggest crisis facing

America today - the growing and dangerous dependence on foreign oil.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com