T. Boone Pickens was interviewed on CNBC Monday as he was attending the Milken Institute Global Conference in California.

Boone said that he was disappointed that the energy bill which was to have been introduced in Washington by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been postponed but said it was a very good plan to help us “get off OPEC oil.”

Maria Bartiromo, who conducted the interview, asked Boone “how do you get off OPEC oil?”

“You’ve got to use your resource to replace their oil,” Boone said. “We have over a 200 year supply of natural gas and we’re fools if we don’t use natural gas for heavy-duty trucks.”

Bartiromo asked Boone “What is stopping us from using that natural gas?”

“Washington,” said Boone. “This hasn’t come up for a vote. When it does,” he said, “it will pass.”

Maria Bartiromo asked Boone about the government’s emphasis on nuclear and “what’s wrong with that.”

“Nuclear won’t move an 18-wheeler,” Boone said. “I’m only interested in cutting down on OPEC oil and the only way we’re going to do it is with natural gas. It’s 30 percent cheaper, it’s cleaner and it’s ours,” he said. “Why in the hell don’t we use it?”

Boone was also asked about his recent warnings that China is buying its future oil supplies today.

“The Chinese have spent over $200 billion either buying oil or making loans which will be, repaid with oil,” he explained. “They have a plan, the United States has no plan; none, zero.”

Boone said with a smile, that after he announced the Pickens Plan in July, 2008 “it’s pretty much the same plan the Chinese have used which is to use your own resources or own the resources around the world.”

Boone said “We have to stop buying our enemies’ oil. It’s stupid to be paying for both sides of a war.”

Boone concluded the interview by saying that the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham bill “will pass this year and heavy duty trucks will go to natural gas.” He said that with the passage of the bill “the trade deficit will come down because oil imports account for two-thirds of the trade deficit.

He finished by talking about jobs: “We’re sending $350-400 billion a year out of the country and gets you not one job. You start bringing that money back in using your own resources, we’ll create jobs all over the place.”

— The Pickens Team