My first surprise was that legendary oil man T. Boone Pickens is advocating a radical wind power plan to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil. But the bigger surprise came when I learned that Pickens is using a savvy, Web 2.0 campaign to build grass-roots support for his agenda. After all, the 80-year-old Oklahoman seems like a character from a bygone age, someone more myth than man. From his humble entrepreneurial beginnings as a newspaper delivery boy, Pickens founded one of the largest independent oil companies in the United States and later built a financial empire that made him a central figure in the 1980s takeover mania. He’s a staunch conservative and Republican backer whom Forbes ranks as the 117th richest person in the country. Humble, he is not. According to his Web site: ‘The breadth of T. Boone Pickens’ career is staggering.’ But as he strides into my office, it’s clear he’s not here to revel in the past. Instead, he wants to solve the U.S. energy crisis, proposing an ambitious plan that calls for a massive investment in wind power. To galvanize support for the ‘Pickens Plan,’ he’s turned to the […]