has been (no matter whose party is in the WH) we fickle Americans and permissive/lotta talk-no-action-lawmakers have done nothing but talk about we need to do something about energy independence. Now 30 -40 hence our consumption is multiple times higher and the price of gasoline and ALL OTHER ENERGY RELATED goods and services are going up....AGAIN!

IMHO opinion the looming energy crisis which will explode/implode our way of life with no QUICK fixes available to ease the pain....is much more significant than the current economy....banking....auto, et al monetary crisis of the day.

As I have said repeatedly over the years....just wait till there is a serious oil availability interruption. With NO short term solutions our way of life is to be more severely impacted than any of the current monetary inconveniences.

It has been there staring us all in the face.....and as long as we have the calming effect of what ever happens to be a reasonable price at the pump, we the people keep plodding along as though the problem did not exist and so do the 545 in Washington, DC.

The actions taken thus far by the new POTUS are notable. They do nothing to address the pending bigger problem. Sooner or later we will employ our age old "crisis of the day mentality" to address the real problem. I am amazed at the lax sense of urgency on a subject that has no contingency planning....no short term capability. Yes we have the emergency oil reserve that is good for how many days? When the impact has potential to take years!!!

btk