Reason’s Michael Lynch, in the 2/02-Issue, writes: “As the media exposed our Saudi Arabian allies as double-dealing despots, attention has turned to the practical: Can the Unites States live without Saudi oil, which, at 1.6 million barrels a day, accounts for 14 percent of our imports? the answers are mixed. The Wall Street Journal’s Susan Lee says we can, since other countries will simply sell more oil. Newsweek reached a similar conclusion. On the other hand, writing in The Weekly Standard, Hudson Institute economist Irwin Stelzer says, ‘not a chance’ — at least not for many years.

The most useless contribution came from The New York Times’ Paul Krugman, who said that ‘intelligent policies could break’ the oil price surge-and-bust cycle. His only concrete suggestion: increase mileage standards on SUVs to those of cars. Unfortunately for Krugman, Stelzer disposed of this hoary idea, pointing out that even a 25 percent increase in mileage standards would take a decade to decrease oil consumption by barely more than 1 million barrels a day. That’s less than we buy from the Saudis today.”

And in ten years, we’ll all be gliding around on Ginger (the scooter, not the Blogger) in new-fangled domed cities anyway…