Pickens eyes stimulus to retrofit trucks

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens says he is seeking federal economic stimulus money to retrofit heavy trucks to run on natural gas.

Pickens told The Dallas Morning News he met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders Tuesday to make his pitch for as much as $28 billion to convert around 350,000 trucks from diesel to cleaner-burning gas.

"They, of course, didn't jump up and give me a standing ovation," Pickens said. "But we talked about the subject. And I think they are thinking about all of this very seriously."

The newspaper said Wednesday Pickens estimated the conversion would also trim U.S. oil imports more than 5 percent.

Pickens has been at the forefront of a campaign to spur the growth in the use of natural gas and electricity to power motor vehicles in the United States.

Voters in cash-strapped California last fall defeated a Pickens-backed ballot initiative that would have subsidized purchases of gas-powered vehicles by companies and individual consumers.