It's no accident that we've become dependent on oil, which is
one of the highest energy-density fuels found in nature. In
fact, long before humans turned to oil for transportation,
migrating birds were using a similar form of energy—stored oil
in the form of body fat—to journey thousands of miles. Strictly
from a physicist's perspective, burning oil for fuel can be
understood. But from any other perspective, our dependency on
oil is dangerous and shortsighted. Today, we import roughly 60
percent of our oil. This is a huge drain on our economy because
any dollar we send overseas for oil is a dollar we can't
reinvest in America. The American people, meanwhile, are at the
mercy of price spikes. And, while we can't predict oil prices
from year to year, we know they will rise in the long run as the
developing world starts to use energy like we do. Our oil
dependency also weakens our security because much of the world's
oil is controlled by regimes that do not share our values. With
oil prices low, the world is now