Jay Hakes was head of the Energy Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy from 1993 to 2000, where he oversaw the collec-tion and dissemination of America's official energy data and analysis. He has given testimony before congressional committees on more than twenty-five occasions and is currently head of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.

• Introduction : Why Energy Independence Matters More Than Iraq 1PART ONE: The Problem of America’s Energy Dependence 11Chapter 1: America’s Plunge into Reliance on Foreign Oil 13Chapter 2: A Forgotten Victory Gives Hope: How America Solved Its Last Energy Crisis and Cut Oil Imports in Half 41Chapter 3: Lapsing Back into Oil Addiction: Retreating from Battle under Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush 71Chapter 4: Blood and Treasure: The Heavy Cost of Dependence on Middle East Oil 89Chapter 5: Fossil Fuels and Global Warming: A Dangerous Experiment with the Planet 103Chapter 6: The Magic and Limits of Market-Based Solutions 121Chapter 7: Seeing through the Ideological Blinders (of the Right and the Left) 133PART TWO: Seven Economically and Politically Viable Paths to Energy Independence 143Chapter 8: Solution One: Store Massive Emergency Reserves 145Chapter 9: Solution Two: Drive the Car of the Future 157Chapter 10: Solution Three: Bring Alternative Fuels to Market 173Chapter 11: Solution Four: Plug into an Electric Future 181Chapter 12: Solution Five: Adopt Energy Taxes Liberals and Conservatives Can Like 191Chapter 13: Solution Six: Make Energy Conservation a Patriotic Duty 203Chapter 14: Solution Seven: Throw Some “Hail Marys” 213PART THREE: Securing Our National Future 221Chapter 15: What We Need from National Leaders (and from Voters) 223Acknowledgments 231Notes 233Index 243