Billionaire oil man T. Boone Pickens has launched a new initiative around renewable energy. Called “The Pickens Plan,” it aims to cut to America’s dependence on foreign oil by less than a third in a decade. How? Wind energy and natural gas.

Pickens appears to be leading by example. He’s in the process of building the world’s largest wind farm near Amarillo, Texas which will include 700 wind turbines at a cost of more than $2 billion. He expects to begin generating electricity in 2011. According to USA Today, “Pickens’ plan is to produce enough wind power within 10 years to divert 20% of the natural gas now used to fuel power plants for use in cars and trucks.”

The Sierra Club is already on board. Said Executive Director Carlo Pope, “To put it plainly, T. Boone Pickens is out to save America.”

UPDATE: Pickens authors this op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal.  He writes, “Why do I believe that our dependence on foreign oil is such a danger to our country? Put simply, our economic engine is now 70% dependent on the energy resources of other countries, their good judgment, and most importantly, their good will toward us. Foreign oil is at the intersection of America’s three most important issues: the economy, the environment and our national security. We need an energy plan that maps out how we’re going to work our way out of this mess.”