[Huebolt]

The costs and benefits considered by SCBA are not limited to easily quantifiable changes in material goods, but should be construed in their widest sense, measuring changes in individual utility and total social welfare.

Seems like a lot of smoke is shoveled here. Inability to quantify an principle can be a sign that opinion, or political agenda, dominates the discourse.

The OBVIOUS answer is to QUIT USING IMPORTED OIL. The middle East could go back to being the non-entity it was before oil was discovered there.

Nuclear power plants producing unlimited energy would take care of the entire issue in one easy step. There is enough fuel to last 10,000 years at current consumption.

And that's without breeder reactors.

[allmost]

Utilizing resources available requires permission from the government. They say no. Screw the thought of self sufficiency or screw the bureaucrats blocking it? Tough choice.

[larry hagedon]

I fully agree with all your points.

Understand that the smoke screen was first applied by congress in hiding petroleum subsidies from our view, buried in huge bills that no one reads. Not even the Government Accounting Office can give us a very clear answer to how many subsidies there are.

My purpose in posting this was to establish that Petroleum has many subsidies, quite contrary to the understanding of many people.