hey Teribus,

where did I say that the US population (or anyone else) didnt know that America is addicted to oil?
... your comment.. The US's dependency on oil is NOT down to who ever governs the country it is down to the population of that country and their personal preferences - True??

absolutely true.
But you make it sound as if the Administration in charge has NO control over energy policy. (ARE YOU serious?)

there are CAFE emission standards - sure its hard to set those - because there is opposition from the Auto industry as well as the auto unions, but the govt can and does set those standards. (and basically since the oil glut in the 80s those havent changed very much)

There are other efficiency standards such as airconditioners - - cheap airconditioners/energy hogs overloaded the system in a heat wave, but poor people are more likely to spend money on a cheap a/c than one that costs more but more efficient. Its up to the govt to set those standards.

back in 2001 Cheney gave a very telling speech on energy - which indicated to energy analysts that he didnt have a clue about energy.
he said 'we are in the midst of an energy crisis' referring to California (although much of the crisis was actually caused by his and Georges buddies at Enron).

The telling sentence; "conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy" was ridiculous.

What stopped the blackouts in California? CONSERVATION. people cut back, and used less power and the problem practically disappeared overnight.

its ridiculous from a business standpoint as well- rather than calling it Conservation/ if you look at it from an Efficiency standpoint it makes good business sense to reduce energy costs and get more value for your money.

also back then they reduced spending on alternative energy research
and now (after 6 years) theyve turned around and are funding all sorts of alternative energy plans, such as ethanol, cellulosic ethanol
plug in hybrids. I applaud the Administration on this but it's something they could have done years ago.

it doesnt take a genius to realize that a lot of the Western world oil supply comes from OPEC nations. (After the first oil shock of the 70s the west responded by developing non-opec supplies such as the North Sea etc. by the mid-80s the Saudis finally figured out the power of the market by increasing the supply and putting a lot of non-opec oil out of the market.)
the non-opec oil became important again when the price went up in recent years (which is why Russia, and Alberta are flush with money now)
eventually the easy non-opec oil is not going to last forever.

so it makes sense to start planning alternatives.
(basically with a 60mpg vehicle OPEC is irelevant)

the fact is that the middle east and the persian gulf was always strategically important for the US, (Carter made his speech in the 70s) and even back in the 53 the CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected govt in Iran -