Cheney's Formula

"We are clearly at the point where we are consuming 20 to 21 million barrels a day. Worldwide demand is approaching now 83 to 84 million barrels a day. We're using almost 25% of what's used worldwide but that's is keeping with the size and the scope of our economy. … Once we limit ourselves in terms of our own production here at home, then obviously we are relying upon foreign sources and uh, that's a policy choice that's been made over the years. … I think we have to recognize that at um, we will continue for the foreseeable future to basically be operating in a hydrocarbon economy. That's not going to change in a matter of a few years. It will gradually evolve over time but for the foreseeable future, it's going to be oil and petroleum products and natural gas be it the heart of what we do from a power and energy standpoint. And uh, if you are going to acquire the resources you need, you are going to have to go where ever those are to be found, and um, they are not always located where there are governments that are democratically elected or necessarily friendly to the United States of America. So you got to deal with the international situation as you find it and that's what we are going to continue to do. I think we need to continue to make the efforts as aggressively as possible."

--Dick Cheney, April 22, 2005
Republican National Lawyers Association 2005 Conference
(25 min)