Sometimes I think America is retarded. And for all the claims that we are out to dominate the world, sometimes I really wonder if that is the case, because the one thing that is keeping us from ruling the world is the one thing we can't give up: Energy!

On a side note, I am not against the idea of America dominating the world, as I still say the good we have done in the world far outweighs any other country in history. And even though we aren't perfect, and we do have injustice in our own country, I still think America is a pretty darn good place and a good role model for most countries to follow. But I digress.

Ok, so everyone from Al Gore to Michael Moore to even George W. Bush has said America is addicted to oil. Now, while the latest gas prices spike is due more to increase demand (India and Asia) than decreased supply (despite what the news tells us), it seems to me that attempts to curb demand here in the states all take corporate or governmental responsibility first. Now while I am optimistic about America, I am not optimistic about corporations or the government. So if corporations or the government aren’t going to be the answer to this problem, what is? Individuals! And in my mind there is one simple thing we can all do that will drastically decrease the amount of oil consumed: move closer to work. Why in the world of ethanol research and stressing public-transporation, are the Greenpeace hippies not suggesting this simplest step of all.

I fill up my 15 gallon car once every 2 weeks. This is mainly due to the fact that I live 1.7 miles from my work. In 2006, America consumed somewhere around 7.6 BILLION BARRELS of oil. On the average, Americans drive 43.5 miles a day, of which 32.0 miles of those are spent commuting to and from work. That means that 75% of our driving and 5.7 billion barrels of oil are use in relation to work commute. If we were to cut the average commute in half to 16 miles each day, we would essentially be cutting our total fuel use to 4.75 billion barrels - which would drop our fuel consumption below what we consumed in 1970.

While we wait for the government to get out of the oil lobby business, and we wait for oil corporations to come around to ideas like ethanol, this is something every American can strive to do. The end result is families save money, spend more on American products (as apposed to Middle Eastern oil), this would increase our economic status, saves the environment, simplify lives, and makes us safer since the Middle East will have less control over us. How is that not a easy win situation all the way around?