Project Independence

After having almost another $100 dollar fill-up I firmly have come to believe that the US government screwed the pooch in regards to its energy policy. So my question is- Is it actually possible to have a successful Project Independence? If you’ve never heard of it Project Independence was an initiative by Nixon to move the country to energy independence in the wake of the Oil Embargo and while it did result in some minor changes ultimately it fell flat on its face in regards to it state goal exemplified by gas being ten times more expensive today. Beyond whether or not its technically and practically feasible what would have to happen to keep both political parties committed to moving the project forward. And lastly what would be the likely ramifications today beyond me not cringing every time I pull into the gas station?
 
The price of everything has shot through the roof since 1973, how much worse is petrol compared to everything else other than electronics?
 
You 'cringe' for at least two reasons - the Dollar has gone down in value, and the international price for oil has gone up.

How much over the years has the fuel consumption changed of the average American car? If the majority of Americans were driving more fuel efficient cars - their total demand for the fuel would be less! In Europe (especially the UK) Governments tax car fuel - not good, but it forces us over the years to move over to vehicles with more mph.

Perhaps, if a decade ago the US Government had taxed vehicle fuel, and used the dollars collected to subsidise solar panels in new buildings. Just imagine a city self-sufficient in energy consumption because of all the skyscrapers (and their solar panels) connected up to the electrical poer network. Now that would give you - 'Independence'.
 
It has always puzzled me that the US is simultaneously one of the biggest importers, and exporters, of oil.

Why not just keep it in the US in the first place?
 
The price of everything has shot through the roof since 1973, how much worse is petrol compared to everything else other than electronics?
Oh no doubt however 1000% increase and climbing is still excessive by any means.



You 'cringe' for at least two reasons - the Dollar has gone down in value, and the international price for oil has gone up.

How much over the years has the fuel consumption changed of the average American car? If the majority of Americans were driving more fuel efficient cars - their total demand for the fuel would be less! In Europe (especially the UK) Governments tax car fuel - not good, but it forces us over the years to move over to vehicles with more mph.

Perhaps, if a decade ago the US Government had taxed vehicle fuel, and used the dollars collected to subsidise solar panels in new buildings. Just imagine a city self-sufficient in energy consumption because of all the skyscrapers (and their solar panels) connected up to the electrical poer network. Now that would give you - 'Independence'.

Actually one of the few successes of Project Independence in OTL was to replace some oil power plants with coal power plants.

An interesting tidbit is that the Model-T got 25mpg which sadly is better than most non hybrids today. As far as a fuel tax goes the US has both a State and Federal tax on fuel however it’s noticeably less than European versions IRC. The real problem is that post Embargo the US at least enjoyed great oil prices through the 90’s so beyond the possible security concerns of importing such a crucial commodity there was no real motivation to change, but that’s the point of thread. So how can we bring about a plausible reason to become energy independent?
 
The real problem is that post Embargo the US at least enjoyed great oil prices through the 90’s so beyond the possible security concerns of importing such a crucial commodity there was no real motivation to change, but that’s the point of thread. So how can we bring about a plausible reason to become energy independent?

A worse, longer-lasting Oil Crisis is all that springs to mind. AFAIK during the OTL Oil Crises, some efforts were made towards fuel efficiency in cars, renewable energy etc, only for those moves to be promptly dropped along with the price of oil.
 
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