Clean energy ETFs became hugely popular in 2007. But they’ve been taking a beating since this August, when crude oil prices began to fall from their year highs.

Nevertheless, Jim Stanton says alternative energy — and the wind-energy market in particular — has a big future. Wind energy is already the second largest source of new power generation in the US, and it now has the backing of the much-hyped Pickens Plan.

Jim says two clean-energy ETFs that look undervalued right now are PBW and GEX. He also recommends FAN for a more wind-specific ETF. 

Energy expert Dave Gonigam has serious reservations about T. Boone Pickens‘ energy plan.

When the Pickens Plan was first announced, Dave expressed concerns in The Daily Reckoning’s Desidooru Saloon blog about its finer details.

The problem is the Pickens Plan isn’t quite as free market as it claims. Take the proposed $5-billion sale of general bond funds to help finance alternative energy schemes in California. This is more like a back-door subsidy for Pickens’ natural gas agenda. More from Dave below…

Coal. It’s dirty, and burning it generates massive amounts of CO2, which causes global warming. It’s also the America’s main source for power generation.

So what can be done, asks Greg Gunner Guenthner. Are there ways to make it cleaner? Carbon capture technology is a possibility, but it’s years away from being usable.

Oil is another massive polluter, and gets more expensive by the day. Looks like the only option is to invest in sustainable energy – the sooner the better.

T. Boone Pickens says the US is addicted to foreign oil. He also says the US is the Saudi Arabia of wind power, which is catchy but meaningless. Wind abundant in many parts of the world. Oil isn’t.

Pickens’ new energy plan - the Pickens Plan - dovetails nicely, of course, with his plan to build a massive wind farm in Texas.

Everything in Pickens’ plan favors his own BP Capital Management, says Dave Gonigam in Desidooru Saloon.