T. Boone Pickens, oil man, hedge-fund manager and natural gas entrepreneur, made headlines earlier this year when he announced an initial investment of $2-billion in a new Texas wind farm. Wrapped in the brilliance of Old Glory, he stepped up to the soap box and declared how he would wean America off evil foreign oil. Overnight, the 80-year-old Texas legend became the most unlikely poster boy for the green energy movement.

Given Pickens’ Texas Holdem swagger, wind energy – and by association all alternative energy – took on a measure of safety that deluded many investors into thinking they could simultaneously buy their way into the Wall Street Hall of Fame and the Pearly Gates of St. Peter.

Now, it turns out, Pickens’ massive project is sucking cash instead of blowing in the wind. And in one of the most under-reported stories of the year, Pickens finally admitted that the wind farm has been put on hold indefinitely.

Just as investors followed Pickens to the alter of green, they should now also pull green from their portfolio.

The same market dynamics that forced Pickens away from wind continue to crush the green industry as a whole: difficult financing and low oil prices. Some rosy optimists still cling to the belief that President-elect Obama will wave his magic green wand and make all those problems go away. But with record unemployment, the struggle to save Detroit and expensive wars in the Middle East, we contend that Mr. Obama’s green initiatives will prove to be nothing more than campaign rhetoric for at least the first 12 months of his administration.

Certainly big money men such as Pickens, electric-car magnate Elon Musk and Silicon Valley’s new breed of green venture capitalists have influence in Washington. But we’re still not convinced that Obama, for all his good intentions, can make a convincing argument to throw billions behind green in these tough, recessionary times.

As it now stands, Pickens’ Mesa Power has already placed orders for the first phase of the Pampa Wind Project, 667 wind turbines from General Electric capable of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 300,000 average U.S. households.

The first phase of the project, estimated at $2 billion, was originally scheduled to come online in early 2011.

He still expects to take delivery of the project’s 2,700 turbines in 2010, but their installation might be delayed until wind is more competitive economically, he was quoted as saying. Still, 2010 isn’t that far away, and the likelihood of oil rebounding to this summer’s high of near $150 by then is quite slim.

Futures of light sweet crude were trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at about $57 a barrel, a 21-month low. Unless, Obama can create thousands of new jobs in 2009 so consumers can drive to the mall, oil prices will continue to remain depressed.

While green investments will certainly make a rebound in our lifetime, it won’t take place in the next 12 months.

This from Taipan Publishing’s emerging markets blog:

As climate change and energy independence have headlined a number of events during the past two years of presidential campaigning, I’m happy to see alternative energy back in the investment ring.

Surprisingly, many top-notch European companies see the U.S. as a major growth region for the renewable energy business, and they are coming over in droves to set up shop.

Let’s take a look at just one of the technologies that’s already being employed around the world: wind power.

The U.S. is in bad shape compared to the rest of the world. Some of the world’s leaders in wind power, like Spain, Denmark and Germany, generate a significant percentage of electricity from wind. But even countries like Morocco and India generate a larger percentage of electricity from wind than the U.S.

Morroco gets 1.7% of its electricty from wind. India? 4.6%.

The U.S. gets 1.37% from wind, and that’s after record growth last year that saw 3,100 new turbines built in 34 different states.

Now listen to this: The Department of Energy released a 248-page report that shows how the U.S. can generates as much as 20% of its electricity from wind power alone… by 2030. Do the math and you’ve got a 1,360% increase from currend wind generation.

That means an additional 7,000 turbines a year will need to be installed over the next nine years if we want to meet this goal.

Guess what? That type of demand won’t be met by U.S. companies. General Electric (NYSE:GE) is already committed for the next few years with T. Boone Pickens’ wind farm planned for Texas.

No, folks… This demand will have to be met by international companies… Companies that have climbed amazingly quickly over the past two and a half years. In fact, seven different international companies have more than doubled since 2005.

(Note: That doesn’t include the global meltdown the world’s experienced over the past couple months.)

And many of these companies already have operations here in the U.S. and are looking to expand, sometimes into old manufacturing plants.

Like Spanish company Acciona SA (MCE:ANA) who plopped a wind turbine manufacturing plant in an old pump factory in West Branch, Iowa…

These investments have sparkes a wealth of more factories, like the small company that occupies an old Maytag factory making concrete towers to support wind turbines while TPI Composites built a brand new plant across the street and promised to hire 500 employees.

It’s revitalizing old manufacturing towns in what’s called “The Rust Belt.” These are places who saw manufacturing plants uprooted and moved overseas, or just closed down completely.

It’s a very interesting area for investors.

No matter what you think of either candidate for president, both have promised to curb our dependence on foreign oil and build jobs here at home. Both have promised more alternative energy investments.

Seems like a win-win for both investors and many of those European companies coming to the U.S. and building turbine plants.

Source: Green Investing: The New Industrial Revolution

And so it should.

First off, Pickens, a qualified geologist, knows a thing or two about oil and energy. In 1956 he founded Mesa Power. The company grew into the largest independent exploration companies in the US. He later set up BP Capital Management, one of the most successful energy-oriented investment funds on the planet. The fund as a whopping $4 billion under management.

Secondly, the Pickens Plan tells Americans something the majority of their politicians are afraid to: America is addicted to foreign oil and this threatens the US economy, the environment and national security. And Pickens has pockets deep enough to finance a massive ad campaign to spread his message.

Thirdly, the timing is perfect. Pickens launched his plan amid media hyteria over $4-a-gallon gas and record crude oil prices. And the plan casts Pickens as a white kight who can greatly reduce America’s oil imports and help prevent global climate destabilization — so-called ‘global warming’ — at the same time.

Of course, T. Boone is a shrewd businessman. As we reported here last week, the Pickens Plan is a long way from a philanthropic project by a disinterested businessman. It ties in with Pickens’ interests in wind energy production and natural gas.

According to PickensPlan.com: “America is blessed with the world’s greatest wind power corridor and abundant reserves of clean natural gas. The Pickens Plan will utilize these tremendous resources to build a bridge to the future – a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives and buying time for us to develop even greater new technologies.”

There’s no doubt that even parts of the plan were adopted Pickens would be a major beneficiary.

More importantly it would change the investment landscape considerably. And even if the plan falls flat on its face, it would seem it is only a matter of time before the US acts on Pickens’ recommendations. Especially if crude oil prices don’t drop significantly.

We’ve dug up three alternative energy plays tipped recently by the investment experts we publish daily at Contrarian Profits. The Pickens Plan is slick. And it’s back by big bucks. But it’s not the only game in town…

1) Invest in biotech stocks that are in developing green energy and biofuel solutions to the world’s energy supply problem.

According to Rob Fannon in DailyWealth, “when oil was $30 a barrel and corn still cost $2, biotechs didn’t have a reason to develop alternative energies or agricultural breakthroughs. Now, oil is over $130 and corn is $7.50 – and hitting new highs along with wheat, soybeans, and rice. The biotech industry wants a piece of the action…”

Read on here to find out about the three energy-related biotech stocks Rob says are worth exploring further.

2) Invest in cellulosic ethanol. This one comes from Mark Louie at Whiskey and Gunpowder.

According to Mark: “This technology will ultimately help environmental problems, diminish the U.S.’s dependency on oil, boost the economy, increase food supply and even put an end to controversial wars… Cellulosic ethanol, made from cellulose — the most common organic compound on earth — is potentially produced from your lawn trimmings, switchgrass, wood chops, paper sludge, corn stalk, stems and even manure and sewage.”

Read on here to find out the four small-cap public companies that are possible profit plays in this new industry.

3) Invest in nuclear power.

According to Andrew Gordon in Investor’s Daily Edge: “Nuclear energy is the future again, says Andrew Gordon in Investor’s Daily Edge Unplugged. And uranium stocks are cheap right now.”

Read on here to find out  to invest in a nuclear future with this NYSE-listed uranium producer.