Do events in the Middle East increase your rating of Energy Independence?

Given how these people have treated americans, we should already be energy independant.

I'm not sure what you mean. Shouldn't it be "desire" for energy independence? If that's the case, we're way behind the curve.
Why do we have a department of energy when they do noting in that regard but waste money on failing companies, unproven ideas, and plain old waste?

I have always supported energy independence. We have many resources.

we can be independent tomorrow ...make hemp legal ..can do anything that oil can do with hemp ,and its a lot cleaner,renewable

And people with diesel cars won't even need a new car. Any diesel engine can run on filtered hempseed oil without modification. Rudolph Diesel actually invented his engine to run on hemp oil. It's ridiculous that we're burning petroleum in those cars nowadays.

Rapeseed oil is another possible fuel for diesel engines. But hemp grows much faster than rapeseed, requires very little fertilizer and no pesticides, since the plant is naturally pest resistant. It literally grows like weed and is just as resilient. It's utter madness to outlaw what might be the most versatile and useful cultivated plant on this planet.

you are correct
there is also this
Now take a moment to think about how wonderful this plant really is! It is capable of providing clothing (hemp is the strongest fiber in the world), it provides nutrition (cannabis seeds contain the most concentrated nutrients found in any food)! It’s “main ingredient” THC has even been proven to be anti-carcinogenic, eliminating lymphatic tumors in test rats within two weeks.

I agree with that, although I think it's important to mention that the THC content of industrial hemp is negligible. Industrial hemp contains far less cannabinoids than chocolate (cacao beans contain anandamide, a cannabinoid that has the same effect as THC). We give chocolate to children, despite the fact that it's a mild psychoactive drug, and yet the U.S. outlaws a plant that is pretty much impossible to get high on.

true
hemp is frequently confused with marijuana. Although both plants are from the species cannabis, hemp contains virtually no THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana.
Hemp cannot be used as a drug because it produces virtually no THC
(less than 1%), where marijuana produces between 5 - 20 % THC.

yes