Oilman T. Boone Pickens says he's pushing his alternative energy proposal to Congress not because he wants to make money through his own businesses, but because he knows how to solve the nation's energy problem.
"Let's don't waste time on [the idea] that I'm up here in Washington talking about something that's going to make me money. I've got plenty of money, don't worry about that," Pickens told CNBC from Washington, D.C. "I'm an American and I think I've got the answer to a horrible problem for this country." (See accompanying video for more details.)
Pickens, who has companies involved with natural gas and wind power but holds long investment positions in the price of oil, is hoping to get presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain to devote more time to the energy debate and to pay attention to his plan.
"I want to elevate the energy debate into the presidential campaign," he said. "If you don't get the energy question solved, you can forget doing health care and education because you aren't going to have the money to do it. We're going to break ourselves on energy if we don't solve the energy problem."