T. Boone Pickens

Centuries from now, mankind is going to look back at a curious time in history when fossil fuels -- chiefly oil -- were a central element of our energy needs. For me, we’re about midway through what I call the Petroleum Era. The world’s oil reserves are declining, but oil will remain a major energy commodity for decades to come.

The issue for me isn’t oil use, but America’s continuing dependence on foreign oil -- in particular OPEC oil -- which is a critical threat to our economic and national security. We must do what every president since Richard Nixon has pledged to do: reduce our dependence on foreign oil, particularly oil from nations that, well, range from those who don’t have our best interests at heart, to those who downright hate us.

You can’t have a sensible conversation about reducing OPEC oil use without focusing on transportation. It accounts for two-thirds of our oil imports.

Seventy percent of the oil we use is refined into transportation fuel: as gasoline to power out 250 million ca