WASHINGTON -- Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens asked Congress yesterday to "clear the path" for his plan to boost use of wind and natural gas for U.S. energy needs.

Pickens has been on a $58 million publicity tour to promote his plan to erect wind turbines in the Midwest to generate electricity, replacing the 22 percent of U.S. power produced from natural gas. The freed-up natural gas then could be used for transportation.

Testifying before a Senate committee, Pickens said the government should begin building transmission lines for wind-generated power or provide the right of way on private land and extend tax credits so the private sector can build the lines.

"If the government wanted to build a grid, I mean, do it," he said. "But if they don't want to do it, I think the money is there to do it private, and so it's kind of like either do it or get out of the way, but give us the corridors to put it in and it'll be done. You could do this on a very, very fast track if you wanted."

Pickens warned that oil could cost $300 a barrel in 10 years as supplies drop, if the nation's energy policy continues to "drift."

Pickens has leased hundreds of thousands of acres for a wind farm in West Texas, where he plans to erect 2,700 turbines and produce energy for urban areas.