The total area of solar panels it would take to power the world, Europe, and Germany

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191. The oil, gas, and coal industries love renewables

because they will never constitute a challenge to fossils' dominance, and can be cynically employed for "green" credentials.

After 50 years of development and $billions in investment, solar provides less than 1% of U.S. electricity. Wind provides more, ~5%. While both are viable in very select areas of the world, they're completely incapable of addressing the overwhelming challenge of climate change. This is for a number of reasons, but mostly variability, energy density, and expense (solar is 30% more expensive than nuclear).

The poster child for this strategy, T. Boone Pickens, is attempting to corner the American gas market by erecting wind turbines:

Many critics of the Pickens Plan highlight ways that Pickens could potentially benefit personally from the plan. For instance, Pickens owns the water rights to a huge ancient aquifer in the Texas Panhandle and overall owns more water than anyone else in the U.S. Increasing water demands and drought may make cities in the Great Plains willing to purchase water at high prices. Implementing Pickens Plan would give him rights to build electric transmission lines, and by getting a wider right of way it would allow Pickens to build water pipelines.

A similar strategy was attempted in Texas, where Pickens is building a wind farm that will bring electricity to Dallas, Texas. The proposed pipeline would have followed the same 250-mile (400 km) corridor as the electric transmission lines from the wind farms, which was to be seized for utility use from private owners through eminent domain. Many Texas landowners and legislators denounced the plan, particularly the fact that it allowed eminent domain to be exercised by an agency consisting only of T. Boone Pickens's employees. In September 2008, the water pipeline was suspended. T. Boone Pickens continues to purchase water rights in the Great Plains and has plans to build more, smaller wind farms.

T. Boone Pickens would be in an excellent position to benefit financially if the plan is implemented. His hedge fund, BP Capital, is highly invested in wind and natural gas enterprises. He is the majority stockholder of Clean Energy, the largest supplier of natural gas for vehicles in the United States.