Interdependence

Everything's connected. Buying oil at the local gas station funds extraction halfway around the world. Markets create even greater interconnections. Most physical units of oil sold in the United States come from Canada or Mexico. Still, supply disruptions in Libya raise prices in Ohio.

Talk of "energy independence" is pure folly. The only way to become truly independent from foreign oil is to become independent from oil. That's surely a worthwhile goal, but it's a different goal. Domestic drilling is suddenly out.

Oil (or fossil fuel) independence, of course, won't happen by tomorrow. In the meantime, we want greater interdependence: being connected in such a way that Brazilian ethanol can make up for a Libyan oil shortfall.

We are all in this together after all.