First of all, we could see an increase in production within 4 years, not “decades”. Second, no one ever said it would end our dependence. But two million barrels per day are two million barrels per day.

I guess you would not bend down to pick up twenty dollars because, hey, it´s not a hundred.

Second, we will NEVER become energy independent and if you listen closely, no politician using the phrase literally means it. The cost would be so high, it´s not even a rational goal. But surely we can pick the low hanging fruit. As for oil, it´s not just used by cars. There is no fossil-fuel free car either. Even if you overcome all the problems associated with using a different way of storing energy for cars – and they are still legion – you still don´t have a fossil-fuel free car. No matter how you store the energy, it has to some somewhere, like coal or natural gas (which is a fossil fuel even if Nancy Pelosi famously didn´t know this). After all, the anti-drilling forces do not like the one efficient non-fossil energy source either, namely nuclear energy. They are more appropriately described as anti-energy.

The United States and most developed countries will be net oil importers for as long as you live. I guarantee it. The rest is propaganda to get gullible fools to support big politics (I blame both McCain and Obama for being untruthful here). Oh, and please can the hippy crap: The bailout is not needed by capitalism, it is demanded by people who don´t want to pay the price for their wrong decisions. Letting companies fail, that would be capitalism.

@ John D: I don’t think your trying to be a smart@ss, I understand your point. I have only been driving since the mid-eighties, but I can always recall that the price of gas at the pump has been a topic every year so this cycle is nothing new. Our reduced consumption is what scared OPEC and forced them to cut production to slow the fall to buoy it back to the $50 per barrel range. And they do see their cash cow running dry and they are trying to squeeze as much profit while they can which is fine. OPEC is better at putting profits back into their system than say Venezuela is and that will cost Venezuela when their production facilities are in need of repair and upgrade.
One problem with capitalism is when the profits are put before people, example; the pharmaceutical industry is only mostly interested in treating symptoms not finding cures. (Yes I do realize the meds have helped my cancer survivor father).
The other thing I see now is that we would have to refer to the lobbyists as the secret hand of the market, as without the bailout (how is that not welfare?) capitalism is failing.

And can I ask what your formal training is regarding the exploration for and production of fossils fuels?

“There are many excuses for the high price we pay for gas, but only one reason is needed, PROFITS!”