Don't worry...Plans are already underway to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Obviously, there are many ways to do so but most of those options will not happen on a large scale till we are all too old to leave our rocking chairs. It took Brazil twenty years to convert sugar cane to fuel on a large scale and thats pretty fast. It will be harder to convert corn into fuel because corn does not have the energy that cane sugar has, so it will require far more corn to produce the same amojnt of fuel. The US has the corn but not necessarily the transportation to move the corn. When harvest time comes (in the Fall), they move the corn to New Orleans for distribution--that's where the money is.
None of the ideas the Liberals in Congress (or Obama) are touting offer any short term solutions and even if drilling began today, it would take at least seven years before we see any change--and that change won't be significant. In fact, it probably won't do anything more than stabilize prices. Keep in mind, oil prices are determined by the world market--even if that oil is drilled locally.
What you will be hearing about in the near future is that Energy companies are exploring ways to convert coal into fuel. The US is the worlds leading supplier of coal and there is an estimated 200 years or so supply. The downside is pollution. The upside is that it is estimated it will only take 5-6 years for widescale distribution.
Im not a politician so I am not sure of any political hang-ups. All I know is that there are engineers within several Energy companies that are working on the coal solution at this time.
