The United States needs to move toward self sufficiency in mobil system fuels. The US Air Force is working to produce jet engine fuel from natural gas (methane). By 2016 they want half of their fuel to come from methane. That makes sense economically with the price of methane at about $7.50 per million BTU's. That is about equivalent to $36 per barrel for oil based on energy content, but oil actually costs $55-60 per barrel. I suspect the Air Force's real motivation is not economic, but rather is to make it independent of foreign oil supplies. This would make sense. It is curious to me that Democrats who have complained about Republican failure to achieve energy independence have no feasible plan themselves. They seem to rely on conservation. They want to demand that auto manufacturers improve the mileage for the cars they produce. THey also want to discourage drilling for new supplies of oil. The Gulf of Mxico appears to have about as much oil as Saudi Arabia, but the Democrats don't want to develop it. And about 25 % of the oil in the world is under the artic sea, where the US could drill for it. But Democrats say it would take several years. This is an odd argument; if we had started at the beginning of the Bush Administration we would have the oil supply now. And improved conservation will take years to pay off. New cars with better mileage will only gradually bring down consumption of the entire fleet. I think a lot of people would simply continue to drive their old car for a few years longer rather than buying a much smaller, ligter car. I know I will.