US must find an alternative to oil guzzling – fast

Seldom can a political leader have spoken more counter-intuitively than when President George W Bush appealed to his fellow citizens that they should “only buy gas if you absolutely have to”. Not only his own career, but that of the dynasty that spawned him, has been built on precisely the opposite advice – use as much oil as you can, America, without a second thought for the consequences.

It is deeply ironic that the Bush administration has come face to face with the folly of this mentality as a result of domestic catastrophe rather than the defection of some foreign potentate on whom they had placed their bets.

Scotland on Sunday