Some Ways to Cut Oil Dependency and Help Reduce Gas Prices Now

During the heat of the political debate about what government should do to help reduce dependence on oil and help to lower the impact of swiftly rising gas and heating oil prices, many measures have been suggested,  These include opening up the strategic oil reserve, allowing increased exploration and drilling offshore and in ANWAR, setting new rules against oil futures speculation, and cutting taxes on gasoline.  Experts (and common sense) say that none of these will have much benefit longer term and can widen government deficits which, in turn, causes weakening of the dollar and thus higher cost of imported oil.  Many suggested measures just keep the US in the hamster cage spinning round and round as domestic and international consumption continues to increase. The truth is that demand from the rapidly rising middle class consumers in China, India and other emerging regions will continue to increase long term demand on all forms of energy.  This makes the limited or short term measures desperately being sought merely band-aides  for a systemic wound in the economic fabric.