Senators, the attacks on September 11th were abrupt reminders that we must become independent of the OPEC nations. Americans consume over 72 billion gallons of gasoline per year, and all of this money goes to Middle Eastern countries that either hate us or have known ties to terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia, for example, which is the major supplier of our oil, was the home of 9 of the 11 terrorists, and yet America still trades with them. There are two main ways we would be able to declare our independence from the OPEC nations: (1) the discovery of other types of energy and (2) development of other sources of oil.

A perfect example of alternate types of energy is Amsoil Synthetic Products. According to their website, industry tests demonstrate that an average passenger car can conservatively decrease its fuel consumption by two to five percent by switching to synthetic lubricants, and trunks can...