Talk:The Issues/@comment-13621-20120823142400

There are a number of things you've failed to take into account.

One, a number of things you've proposed would have to get through Congress (who, I might point out, would never approve of them).

Two, a number of these things, even if approved by congress would be tagged as unconstituional.

Three, a number of these things simple could never happen, for a number of reasons including, but not limited to: scientific impossibility (oil shale, at the moment, is too energy inefficient and is likely to remain that way for the rest of our lifetimes), legally impossible or just a bad idea, and lastly if you were to try to cut off from OPEC, you'd find them cutting you off before you were completely independent from them, which would cripple the economy within minutes.