More and more its seems like all the world's major problems could be solved by using less oil. There's the obvious ones of avoiding global warming and oil spill pollution, of course, plus the environmental damage caused by drilling. It would be a blow to giant corporations because many alternative energy sources and conservation strategies are more decentralized than oil production. It would eliminate the incentives for the US to pursue corrupt foreign policy in the name of oil. And that would in turn deprive left-wingers of a knee-jerk criticism of the government, perhaps causing them to have, if not an open mind, at least more insightful rhetoric. And Tom Friedman points out it would also create peace in the Middle East.