Energy Independence

One of the recurring suggestions for helping the Middle East to calm down, to end its relative economic stagnation (it is one of the two poorest regions on Earth), and to grow is that the West should wean itself from its dependence on Middle Eastern oil.  (This has been a particular theme of Thomas Friedman in his columns in The New York Times.)   Today's "Economic Scene" column in The New York Times, written by Austan Goolsbee, offers some hopeful information about our energy situation.  See here.  We're not doing as badly in reducing our dependence on oil as one might have thought.  (For an excellent background study of our ability to gain energy independence, see John Cassidy's article from the October 11, 2004, The New Yorker, available here.) 

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