Re: If we take away the $4 Billion...
"If you really need a villain, find out who was opposing energy conservation and alternative energy in the 70s. Even back then, anyone without a stake in the oil business could see this coming."
You think nothing has been done in energy conservation and alternative energy since the 1970s? U.S. energy consumption is actually less now than it was then, despite increased use of technology. Billions have been dumped into wind, solar, biofuels, and all the rest. The fact is that "alternatives" don't have what it takes to do the job.
The Left killed nuclear power back then. Despite the constant government support all those years, renewables, including hydro, supply about 7 percent of our energy. The environmental movement now hates hydro, and for that matter, any alternative energy source large enough to actually do something useful, like major wind and solar farms. So here we are.
Right now, recent advances in natural gas development are saving our bacon. At least until the usual idiots destroy that technology too.