The Washington Times published an article by AEI’s Vaughn Nelson about how we can curb our dependence on foreign oil. Here is an excerpt:

Every president since Richard Nixon has touted energy independence; however, neither presidents nor Congress had the fortitude to require the sacrifices from the American people necessary for a rational energy policy.

Politically, even today, it is not feasible because it would require an energy policy that takes into account all costs for energy, new regulations and taxes that would require a major change for business and consumers.

Business entities always couch their concerns in terms of economics (“the bottom line”), but there are different types of economics: pecuniary (ordinary economics, dollars), social and physical. Social costs (externalities) are those borne by everybody, and they may be negative or positive.

You can read the rest of the article here.

The article was intended as a counterpoint to the oil company’s POV on the issue, but that counterpoint was not finished.