Ethanol is “an ugly baby but it’s ours and it will move cars,” according to billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens.

Speaking at the Oil and Gas Investor’s Energy Capital Forum in Houston Tuesday, Boone emphasized that he prefers the less-than-perfect fuel over imported oil because there is “no question” that America must embrace alternate energy sources to alleviate the $700-billion transfer of wealth out of the country to oil imports.

Pickens says the United States is having an energy crisis and that should be the top campaign issue in the presidential election. “Energy is not a debate; it’s a crisis for this country,” Pickens said. “We cannot continue down the path were on. It’s that desperate.”

Pickens said he plans to elevate the issue into this year’s presidential election campaign through a series of television ads talking about energy.

He noted that the country currently spends $700 billion annually to import oil and that could increase to $10 trillion annually within the next decade unless something changes.