Jun. 10--BILOXI -- The creator and namesake of the "Pickens Plan" for more renewable energy and less foreign oil said Tuesday he expects significant energy legislation by year's end. He also called for pressure on Washington to produce solutions.

T. Boone Pickens -- well-known for the $58 million advertising campaign for his energy plan -- addressed the Southern Growth Policies Board, which Gov. Haley Barbour chairs, on the last day of the group's conference here. The summit was sponsored by Chevron and Southern Company, which owns Mississippi Power and other utilities.

Pickens, founder and chairman of BP Capital Management and author of The New York Times best-seller "The First Billion is the Hardest," said his ideas are attainable and there are examples of successes, particularly with natural gas, wind and solar technology. He lamented the U.S. has gone the last 40 years without developing an energy plan, but said it's imperative to develop one now.

He said for years politicians agreed with him on foreign oil, but many kept getting elected and nothing ever happened.

"Now we are 68 percent imports, and over half of that comes from Venezuela, the Middle East and Africa, which are all unstable areas" Pickens said. "The biggest fear I have is the security issue. As long as we import the oil from where it is coming from, our security is in jeopardy."

According to Pickens, the United States uses about 25 percent of the world's oil, but only has about 4 percent of the global population. He said there's hope for alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuel, particularly natural gas, which is abundant in the United States.

Only one natural gas-powered car model, a Honda Civic, which he owns, is for sale in the United States, he said. But General Motors makes nearly 20 different natural gas vehicles, none of which are sold in the United States.

The substance is also powerful enough to propel an 18-wheeler, but there is about a $65,000 difference in the price of a natural gas truck and a diesel model. He favors incentives to encourage natural gas.

Other countries, particularly Iran, are moving toward natural gas engines. About 10 million vehicles run on natural gas worldwide, but only about 142,000 of them are in the United States, Pickens said. Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle operate buses on natural gas, and San Francisco is studying it, Pickens said. Barbour also noted some buses in Jackson currently run on it.

"It's cleaner and it's cheaper," Pickens said.

Pickens is also noted for being in the wind energy business. He said the U.S.