Democrats say they want to achieve energy independence for the United States. Curiously they want to stop further drilling for oil in the US, or in coastal waters. They also want to prevent gasification of coal or exploitation of oil shale, or building more nuclear powered electricity generation stations. Some of their Green supporters want to cease operation of the hydroelectric plants in the US. They seem intent on achieving energy independence through conservation alone. The US produces on the order of 8 million barrels of oil per day, and uses up toward 19 million barrels per day. It is unlikely that conservation alone can close the gap. It is apparent that Democrats are talking about a reduction in our standard of living.