It'd be nice if, when we all agreed there was a problem that we could also all agree on what to do about it. Like oil. We don't know anyone who says that using a lot of Middle Eastern oil is good. But we don't really know any two people who agree on a solution, either.

As a result, there's still a lot of flailing about, more than 35 years after OPEC I embargo first got us thinking seriously about foreign oil. We'd say we should trust the private sector to work it out, but average fuel economy has been stuck in the 19-22 MPG range for the last 25 years. There's been progress lately, but every time gas prices dip, interest in fuel-efficient cars plunges.

When it comes to fully electric cars, the news is even worse. We can't find anyone who's compiled sales figures for 2009, which is surprising, because you can count them on your fingers: Tesla, by far the largest manufacturer of 50-state street legal electric automobiles in the US, had sold less than 1,000 cars, total, by the end of 2009.

Now the National Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Program would spend $4-billion within the Department of Energy. Using 2009's sales figures, that works out to $4-million per car.

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