If the environmentalists and liberals want us out of the Middle East and off oil dependency, then they shouldn't stand in the way when an alternative technology like this is developed, but which doesn't fit their 'pictures' exactly. I think coal-to-oil is fascinating and would work, at least in the short-term (50 years). We are not going to have solar or electric cars and the system to support them overnight. We have to live in reality and work with what we have now.
The American people need to grow a spine and just tell these troublemakers to shut up or come up with a workable, viable solution. So far, I haven't seen them doing anything but complain. They even have issues with solar power because of global warming. Give me a break.