The Gulf: Why the U.S. Is Vulnerable

Other nations have learned to protect their economies from oil shocks. It is time for America to follow their example.

After the U.S. suffered through two oil shocks during the 1970s, politicians vowed never again to let the nation be vulnerable to petroleum blackmail. That brave promise has gone unfulfilled. America today is as dangerously dependent on imported oil as it was a decade ago.

George Bush's hands would have been freer if the U.S. had used the past 10 years to develop an effective policy that reduced its thirst for foreign crude. It has not done so for two major reasons. First, concerns about protecting the environment have hampered the development of domestic alternative energy sources such as offshore oil...

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