The oil crisis has begun. Last summer’s storm season has exposed the Achilles heel of the U.S. economy, which is dependent on foreign OIL to keep the wheels of industry moving. We have reached what system analysts refer to as a single point of failure. It is the one area that if it breaks down, will bring the entire system down with it. Like it or not the U.S. economy runs on oil—cheap oil—and we are running out of it. Oil powers the U.S. economy in manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture. Without oil, the economy would cease to function. There is no other commodity other than water that can have such an effect on how and what we do. Oil is the lifeblood of the economy."With 12 refineries and 21 gas processing plants still out of commission, 90% of our Gulf oil production shut in, 72% of our natural gas production offline, 503 oil platforms destroyed, heavily damaged, or abandoned, energy imports soaring, and a rapid decline in non-OPEC oil production...".Source: Jim Puplava Financial Sense Storm WatchRethinking Energy - The USA is a "crisis driven society" in urgent need of leadership and direction for its future energy needs.
// posted by EV Rider @ More at Glass Onion

With current safe technology, shalle oil and oil sands extraction can, in ten years, provide for all our oil needs and even export. Add to that the current safe technoly of coal to oil conversion, coal being in ample and cheaqp supply, with the CO2 byproduct being diverted to pump up our deep oil wells. This alone can carry the US for over 100 years of nationally produced oil. In the mean time, it would serve us well to reduce and eventuaqlly free ourselves of oil, totally, by increasing use of current solar, wind, hydroelectric, thermal, hydrogen and other alternative energies, not to mention the increase of further research and devellopment of said technologies. There are two impediments to these deand, most important, devellopments: Lack of national information and sense of urgency and, most important, the greed and power of the oil companies.