“The most direct way to reduce our dependency on foreign oil is to simply use less of it (the problem is the vast majority of Americans do not want to make this sacrifice), starting with the cars and trucks we drive. Nearly 70 percent of our oil use is for transportation, and more than 65 percent of that amount is for personal vehicles... energy independence means changing how we power our cars and trucks from foreign oil to new American-made fuels and batteries. 

The next quote is not from a very conservative ideologue. In fact he has at times been branded a communist. The problem I have is because he is an ideologue no one on the right listens to him.....this is even when he does make sense. 

“We will continue to need high-energy-density fuels for years to come. But we can develop new liquid biofuels that will be direct replacements for gasoline and diesel fuel. These will be next-generation biofuels made from high-energy grasses such as miscanthus and from agricultural wastes. In 2005 the Oak Ridge National Laboratory outlined an achievable strategy (known as the "Billion Ton" study) for using biomass to replace 30 percent of our transportation fuels, and the science has advanced since then. When we have new biofuels that can be blended at any level with gasoline and that are safe for both engines and the environment, the importance of oil as a strategic resource will plummet.”
— Nobel physicist Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy.

Combine this with Compressed Natural Gas, Coal Liquefication Fuel, and Thermal Depolymerization TDP from electricity produced by nuclear energy and you can see how America very quickly (within 8 years) can become energy independent as well as being much friendlier to the environment.

Independence means —
    “Freedom from control: freedom from dependence on or control by another person, organization, or state”
— Microsoft Encarta Dictionary

From an economic point of view, Energy Independence means energy security (supply and price stability); an objective that can be achieved through the development of alternative transportation fuels and multi-fuel vehicles (including electric), which would give consumers an opportunity to choose a non-petroleum fuel at the pump such as CNG.

Today, over 80 percent of world petroleum reserves are state-owned — controlled by countries that have the power to manipulate supply and price with impunity — this fact goes directly to the heart of energy security. Energy Independence is a powerful verbal icon, originally conceived and defined in the context of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, today Energy Independence is the vision of America's energy future and the title of America's new energy policy.

The phrase “Energy Independence” is a verbal icon embodying an idea that resonates with the character of America—it is a call for return to economic balance and protection from vulnerability created by over-dependence on petroleum to fuel our cars, trucks and airplanes.

American Energy Independence will be achieved when all cars, trucks and buses on U.S. highways — boats, ships and barges on U.S. waterways — aircraft flying U.S. airways — trains on U.S. railways — and off-road recreational, construction and farm vehicles, are powered by transportation fuels made in the USA from U.S. resources.

The United States consumes 20 million barrels of oil every day

The U.S. economy has become dangerously dependent on foreign oil.

U.S. Electric Utility Companies responded to the threat of the 1973 Arab oil embargo by replacing petroleum fuel oil with USA coal, nuclear energy and natural gas to power their generators. The USA no longer depends on petroleum to generate electricity for the power grid. The USA is not dependent on foreign sources of energy for electricity generation.

The U.S. Automobile industry must do today what the U.S. Electric Utility industry did over 35 years ago — Kick the oil habit!

Seventy percent of the oil consumed in the USA is used for transportation fuel—gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

American Energy Independence will be achieved when American drivers can fill their cars and trucks with non-petroleum fuels. Today, cars and trucks use gasoline and diesel made from petroleum. Technology exists today that can enable all cars and trucks to run on USA biofuels, natural gas, synthetic fuels and electricity.

Energy Independence vs. Interdependence

World War II was won by an alliance of nations that shared a mutual interest in defeating a common enemy. Energy independence can also be achieved through an alliance of nations that share mutual interests. Economic and military interdependence between nations can produce a powerful global force for good, but only if the members of the alliance share basic cultural values and a commitment to protect the freedoms of their people. In World War II the Soviet Union was allied with the U.S. and Great Britain. That alliance, though helping to defeat the Nazis, created another nightmare in the form of a threat of global nuclear war that lasted long after the defeat of Hitler's Germany.

There is nothing inherently wrong with “energy interdependence” in regard to importing oil. But we must ask: where is the oil money going? What is the oil money being used for? Is there a connection between the flow of oil money into the Middle East and the flow of terrorism out of the Middle East? What are the long-term implications? Clearly, global free trade, as it is called, has shifted economic and military power away from Europe and the USA to nations that only 60 years ago were economically and militarily in the Dark Ages. The Middle East is home to the largest percentage of world oil reserves and all Middle East oil producing countries are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Oil is a global commodity—it doesn't matter where the oil comes from—OPEC sets the global price of oil.

In the year 2007, over 700 billion dollars flowed into OPEC nations from oil hungry countries around the world.

From September 2007 through October 2008 the world economy was rocked by the unprecedented transfer of more than one trillion dollars from European, Asian and American economies into Middle East national treasuries in exchange for oil. By 2010 that number increased to 1.5 trillion 

Even with reduced, yet still high oil prices, OPEC countries received $600 billion from oil exports in 2009 and are expected to take in more than $800 billion in 2010.

American Energy Independence will lead to global energy independence

The United States is a world leader and many people forget that. The nations of the world look to the United States for technological leadership. American Energy Independence is about world leadership and putting our technical resources back to work.

A few economists and advocates of global free trade have voiced a narrow view of energy independence, claiming that it will mean a retreat from global economic interdependence, a direction that would disrupt the global free market and lead America toward economic and political isolation. Their view is not true.

The United States does not need zero foreign oil imports to be energy independent. There is no reason to end oil imports from Canada and Mexico. Energy independence is not about protectionism.

Energy independence does not mean closed borders or economic isolation. Energy independence will be achieved by producing abundant and affordable alternative fuels through advanced technology that will enable all countries to do the same. American Energy Independence will lead to global energy independence.

The world consumes over 85 million barrels of oil every day (over 30 billion barrels per year). The USA alone consumes over 20 million barrels per day (over 7 billion barrels per year). At $70 per barrel, global petroleum revenue exceeds two trillion dollars per year.

Development of alternative fuels on a scale large enough to free the global economy from dependence on oil, as the world's primary source of energy, will create a seismic shift within the economic foundation of the world. This is Good triumphing over Evil

American Energy Independence will create hundreds of billions of dollars in new wealth resulting in new jobs and economic stimulus not seen since the World War II civilian work force mobilized behind the war effort.