[mrguyorama]

We are dependent in as much as gas prices going up 50 cents would cause widespread riots apparently. So yes, we are no longer getting 70% of our oil from Saudi Arabia so they can quite simply hold us by the balls, but we are still desperate to keep the rest of the world's oil supply flowing regularly so that we can keep our own internal prices "American friendly".

Think how far along we would have been had Reagan not been a contrarian asshole who took brand new solar panels off the whitehouse just because. The man signed off on he SuperConducting-SuperCollider because he understood how valuable science investment was, then promptly ignored that for national energy policy because his friends preferred to get rich.

[nradov]

US gasoline prices are only somewhat linked to global crude oil prices because we lifted the export ban in 2015. If domestic prices get high enough to cause major political problems then the export ban can simply be reinstated.