Kerry says energy plan a key to national security

Washington -- Democratic presidential contender John Kerry will outline a strategy for greater U.S. energy independence, saying an end to the country's reliance on Mideast oil is crucial to national security.

The Massachusetts senator, one of nine Democrats vying for the right to challenge President George W. Bush in 2004, said his plan would end a Bush energy policy "of big oil, by big oil and for big oil" by enhancing domestic energy sources and providing incentives for more efficient energy use.

"Setting a national goal of energy independence, with an end to reliance on Middle East oil within this next decade, is critical to the long-term national security of the United States," Kerry said in a speech prepared for delivery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and distributed in Washington.

"No foreign government can embargo clean, domestic, renewable sources of energy -- and no terrorist can seize control of them," he said.

Kerry's proposal, which an aide said would cost a net $18 billion over 10 years, would make cars and trucks more energy efficient by offering tax incentives for purchases of efficient vehicles and new incentives for manufacturers to build them.

A new security and conservation fund would take the royalties that corporations pay for the right to drill on public lands and dedicate the money to research on cleaner energy resources, Kerry said.

Kerry called for a comprehensive effort to expand the supply of natural gas and for a hydrogen-based economy by 2020. He would create a new institute to fund research, setting a goal of 2.5 million hydrogen-powered cars on the road by 2020.

"The Bush policy is to subsidize off-shore drilling and strip mining while refusing to fund the energy revolution that will create jobs and make our country and economy more secure," he said.

Reuters