Geneva man leading Pickens' wind energy plan in 14th district

Sometimes it's hard to see the way from Spot A to Spot B, the various experiences and situations that, though seemingly disparate, somehow led someone to pursue an unexpected path or passion.

So it has been for Dan Nippert of Geneva. He is the leader for T. Boone Pickens' wind energy plan, advocating wind power for those who live in the 14th congressional district. Pickens wants to use wind turbine farms to provide a chunk of the nation's fuel, with natural gas now used to fuel power plans used instead as a fuel for vehicles. He's delayed his plan, due to the financial meltdown.

Nippert will soon be charged with seeking other 14th district residents - that's us, folks - to register our interest in the plan. He'll be at Viking Office Supply, 124 W. State St., in downtown Geneva, from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday. Look for him in the front window.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him pop up at various coffee houses around town either.

"What I'm out to do at this point is to get 500 new Pickens plan members by Jan. 20, the inauguration," Nippert said.

He's simply trying to get new members to provide their first and last names and e-mail addresses, plus ZIP code and perhaps a phone number.

He understands that not everyone likes to put his or her John Hancock on sign-up sheets. "But if they want to know more, I can give them the link that will take them to District 14 and then to me," he said.

Nippert has been a victim of economic cutbacks and layoffs for some time. He's had interviews, he's had appointments set up and invariably, the dreaded word "cutbacks," has come, dashing hopes for a new job.

So he thought he'd begin looking in different directions, at jobs that maybe weren't as high-paying but would offer more personal satisfaction. Along the way came the presidential election and with it, Nippert's move to become informed and ultimately excited about President-Elect Barack Obama and his commitment with change.

"I came across www.change.gov and pulled a chair up to the Obama-Biden president-elect transition team on a couple of occasions," he said. He left some comments on economy and energy. He likes the site and its information and focus on the future, and visits occasionally to find out "What's the president-elect feel about this? And darned if you can't find out and get a response, or sit at their virtual table and say your piece of mind."

His eldest daughter even said to him at one point, "Dad, are you becoming an activist or something?" And in his own way, he has. He's become an advocate for change. He wants to change the way our country fuels its computers, and lights, and homes, and cars.

With his job search on his mind, he thought there might be opportunities in energy, including Pickens' plan. And the more he looked, the more he realized both the Obama and Pickens sites were talking about alternative energy, less dependence on foreign oil and "essentially anything that could create jobs here at home."

So he signed up on businessman T. Boone Pickens' Web site advocating Pickens' plan to promote wind power and other alternative energies. "Fossil fuels have been the root of a lot of problems," Nippert said. "I stood in line for gas in the 1970s, I heard (President Jimmy) Carter say, 'Go 55 MPH,' I see Toyota and Honda building cars the Big 3 should have been making."

All of us suffer from high energy costs and a dependence on foreign oil, he said. "It's time to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade," he said, equating the new struggle with the 1960s challenge for space exploration.

Nippert's focus is at the neighbor level: getting local people involved with the Pickens Plan. It could be active involvement or it could be simply signing your name. "I simply don't want to see this country so reliant on foreign sources, and see high prices for energy, when we could do something about it," he said.

Will all this talking do any good? You have to start somewhere, say those who back change. The information Nippert is collecting about those of us who care about energy and lessening our country's dependence on foreign oil, "will go to all the people we need it to go to get the next step," he said.

A new year is coming - and with it, the winds of change.

For more information visit push.pickensplan.com/group/DistrictGroupIL14. You may also contact Nippert at nippickensplan@live.com. For more information about the Pickens Plan visit pickensplan.com/resources.