So "Are you ready to help beat Bin Laden"?

That's the question posed by Angus MacKenzie of MotorTrend, whom back in 2005, MacKenzie tells us, wrote that "the challenge should be to make America independent of foreign oil within 10 years." Why? Because "...an insatiable appetite for oil seems, increasingly, to end with Americans getting in harm's way in other people's countries".

Of course, MacKenzie and automakers can't do it alone. "The thing is hybrids and diesel engines are more expensive to make. New mileage standards will require cars to use more lightweight materials, more efficient transmissions, and other high-tech, low mass components that will inevitably cost more money. And you can expect higher penalty taxes on gas-guzzlers.

So when it comes to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil, here's the key question: Are you prepared to pay for it?"

Then again, how much will we pay if we don't reduce our foreign oil dependence?