"So far only one OPEC country has dared switch to the euro: Iraq, in November 2000 [2, 3]. There is little doubt that this was a deliberate attempt by Saddam to strike back at the US, but in economic terms it has also turned out to have been a huge success: at the time of Iraq's conversion the euro was worth around 83 US cents but it is now worth over $1.05. There may however be other consequences to this decision.

One other OPEC country has been talking publicly about possible conversion to the euro since 1999: Iran [2,4], a country which has since been included in the George W. Bush's 'axis of evil'. "

source

"Financial Times article dated June 5, 2003, which confirmed Iraqi oil sales returning to the international markets were once again denominated in U.S. dollars – not euros. "
...
"In essence, Iran is about to commit a far greater "offense" than Saddam Hussein's conversion to the euro for Iraq's oil exports in the fall of 2000. Beginning in March 2006, the Tehran government has plans to begin competing with New York's NYMEX and London's IPE with respect to international oil trades – using a euro-based international oil-trading mechanism.[7] The proposed Iranian oil bourse signifies that without some sort of US intervention, the euro is going to establish a firm foothold in the international oil trade. Given U.S. debt levels and the stated neoconservative project of U.S. global domination, Tehran's objective constitutes an obvious encroachment on dollar supremacy in the crucial international oil market.

From the autumn of 2004 through August 2005, numerous leaks by concerned Pentagon employees have revealed that the neoconservatives in Washington are quietly – but actively – planning for a possible attack against Iran. In September 2004 Newsweek reported: "....

source

==============================================
==============================================

Clever Car will consume

- 46 percent less fuel than the Honda Insight (hybrid subcompact)
- 64 percent less fuel than the Chevy Aveo (subcompact)
- 74 percent less fuel than the Chrysler Sebring (full-size sedan)
- 77 percent less fuel than the Chevy Equinox (SUV)
- 84 percent less fuel than the Ford F150 (2-door standard pickup truck)

The price of the Clever Car is comparable to existing autos. It does have a passenger seat which doubles as a cargo space. You can drive it year-round in a variety of weather conditions. If a future incarnation of the Clever Car were flex-fuelled instead of CNG-fuelled, and the government mandated a 30% ethanol-in-gasoline mixture as a minimum, and 100% ethanol availability at the pumps, we could as a nation have a fully-renewable and sustainable transportation sector, completely independent of OPEC oil.