Introduction: the persistent delusion -- Imports are us -- Emotional appeal of energy independence -- False promises of energy independence -- Global energy power shift -- 1972: Texas taps out -- 1973: the embargo, militarism, and rhetoric -- September 15, 2004: the non-OPEC peak meets surging demand -- September 27, 2004: the neocon crusade begins -- Skepticism and thermodynamics -- Best buy effect -- More efficiency, more fuel -- Ethanol scam -- Sidebar: the ethanol timeline -- Running out of (natural) gas -- Nuclear power: megawatts from foreign uranium -- "Opiates of energy policy": coal-to-liquids and imported coal -- Solar: the 1 percent solution -- Hot air -- Sidebar: Thomas Friedman's Maginot line -- View from Jubail -- Rise of Dubai and the "Shift in Gravity" -- Isolate Iran? don't count on it -- A few suggestions -- Sidebar: what about fuel taxes and carbon taxes? -- Conclusion.