Presidential hopeful John Kerry said Friday he would diversify US energy sources and cut US dependence on foreign oil.

With the price of crude at new alltime highs, the Massachusetts senator was to spell out his energy policy along his whistle stop trip that took him to this Midwestern city.

Kerry would like to see 20 percent of transportation energy needs met by alternative sources produced in the United States by 2020.

To do that, he plans to create an "energy security and conservation trust fund" with 20 billion dollars collected from federal offshore oil and gas royalty revenues. The fund would promote the development of energy-efficient technologies, especially automobiles.

Kerry said he also sought to wean the United States from foreign oil, through "better use of clean technologies, natural gas, coal and fuels from non-OPEC countries."

As for the oil prices themselves, Kerry would lean on diplomacy to reduce tensions in oil-producing countries, and to set more uniform rules across the United States to avoid regional price differences and to help families lower their fuel bills.