"I'm trying to save the planet. I'm trying to save the planet."

Well, that's a relief. But frankly, I'd feel a lot better if Nancy Pelosi would allow a vote on the "trivial" issue of permitting drilling on the outer continental land shelf and other federal lands. The current high oil and gas prices, in the main, are the result of the current supply/demand imbalance. And traders in the futures market have been bidding those prices higher, because they expect that imbalance to get even worse in the future (although oil prices came down after Bush rescinded the presidential order forbidding oil exploration on the outer continental land shelf).

The point is that we can do little or nothing to affect the burgeoning demand for oil and gas in other parts of the world. Developing countries aren't going to stop growing on our account. We can, however, improve the supply side of the equation.

As for saving the planet, again, the biggest increases in the production of CO2 and other "greenhouse gases" are occurring in those same developing countries (no surprise there). If oil prices get high enough, the resulting world economic slowdown might cause world demand to slacken. But that "solution" would be both painful and temporary.

By all means, let us strive to increase efficiency and develop alternative energy sources. But we also need to increase domestic oil and gas production. Saving the planet is a longer-term project.