Let’s start with the largest oil producer of the non-OPEC countries - Russia. Long-term, Russia will continue to sell its huge oil and gas resources, filling its country’s coffers with hundreds of billions of dollars. Going forward, Russia will continue to flex its military muscle because Russia’s policymakers know that we won’t strongly protest as long as we can import their oil.

China will dance around the world investing in countries the U.S. deems unsavory and locking up their oil reserves for years to come. They’ll drill just a stone’s throw off our borders while we fight it out among ourselves.

Nuts like Chavez will nationalize their oil industries, and offer us a take it or leave it deal; stealing the billions of dollars of infrastructure development we’ve invested.

Meanwhile, OPEC is basically running the energy show for industrialized nations, or at least they did until recently. But still despite the recent skirmish between the Saudis and their counterparts at the meeting, OPEC will still meet and decide how much oil to produce…

I find it unfathomable that we’ve allowed these countries to decide the fate of the U.S economy.

If we’re going to change this, then we need to get on the ball. If I was in charge of our energy policy, I would be working towards an independent program. I would be convincing leaders to take another look at the untapped reserves we have a little closer to home…in the Gulf of Mexico, and off the east and west coasts.

However, sadly I just don’t see this happening anytime soon. We’re a little too complacent to change our old oil ways. But, looking to the future, as we continue to exhaust energy reserves around the world, we will usher in a whole new generation of cleaner, renewable alternative energy…