George W. Bush. He thinks we're consuming too much oil. I'm not making this up. Promise. They just sent me an email.

And look: I know, I know. But the only sane response is to cheer and check the details. Five years too late ... but better late than never. Now, how about that gas tax?

-Who Said This?

I guess whenever someone mentions "ethanol" as a solution to our energy problems, my eyes roll involuntarily. Coal, nukes, wind and solar. Sure. But the only way to get the private sector to really innovate is to make gasoline more expensive.

-Energy Independence

I've already used this title but gawddamn it if this Brit keeps banging this fucking drum to use the state to force people to do what he wants. Motor vehicle fuel is expensive enough as it is, taking more than $30 to fill the tank on the VW Golf 40+ mpg turbo diesel I drive. Am I "addicted to oil"? No, I am a consumer of petroleum products because they are widely available, widely compatible with my choice of transportation, and switching to something else would be an expense I have no intention on doing unless I decide - uncoerced - that another way is better for me.

I'm open to new ways to power whatever I use to transport me from place to place. I'm not open to the bloated wealth-burning machine in Washington, D.C. leveling yet another threat at the heads of producers and consumers for the purpose of literally making our lives more expensive so that we act as their puppets for the cause of "energy independence."