<P> The Great Plains contribute substantially to wind power in the United States . In July 2008, oilman turned wind - farm developer T. Boone Pickens called for the U.S. to invest $1 trillion to build an additional 200,000 MW of wind power nameplate capacity in the Plains, as part of his Pickens Plan . Pickens cited Sweetwater, Texas as an example of economic revitalization driven by wind power development . </P> <P> Sweetwater was a struggling town typical of the Plains, steadily losing businesses and population, until wind turbines came to the surrounding Nolan County . Wind power brought jobs to local residents, along with royalty payments to landowners who leased sites for turbines, reversing the town's population decline . Pickens claims the same economic benefits are possible throughout the Plains, which he refers to as North America's "wind corridor ." </P>

Animals in the central plains region of texas