Oh, and this. It worse than that.
Because oil is fungible, it doesn’t matter if your buy it from your friends. It just the same as if you buy it from your enemies. The customers just shift around.
In these circumstances, you don’t just stop buying oil from your enemies, you stop buying oil period.
And you know what the chances are of that happening.
A plan to massively increase efficiency, liquefy coal, use bio-based resources to the greatest extent possible and tap all of the nuclear, wind and solar power available. Since that will take time, the US should tap into these final reserves as an “investment” policy to increase supply enough to make life tough for those regimes from whom we currently import oil. If the price dropped enough, many would collapse. And yes, America would have to tax gasoline to counter the demand affects of a lower price. My suggestion is for a income tax rebate at the end of the year. So the tax is paid at the pump, but given back at the end. Because you really cannot trust politicians with more money.
Yeah, its more complicated than that, but it is not impossible. Going to the moon was impossible before someone decided to challenge America to do it.