You are talking about 30% of U.S. oil consumption, not 30% of what is produced in the mid-east. These are very different numbers.

As usual, americans need some global prospective. We are not the center of the universe. We are about 7% of the world population using about 20% of the world's energy, and we are being picked on by the big, bad mid-east? Please. How do you think this whining sounds to the rest of the world?

This is a global issue, and it's not going to be solved by the action by one country, let alone an individual. If the U.S. has a legitimate interest in resolving energy/environmental issues, they need to get out in front of real alternative energy production and start selling these technologies to the developing world before they also become "addicted" to oil. The U.S. got where they are today by innovation, not by hiding from the rest of the world. There is nothing wrong with BD, etc., but it is a very small piece of a much larger issue.