The USA is a Pacific Rim country. I live in Seattle, which boasts one of the largest container ports with access to the Pacific Ocean, and one of the best protected to boot. Yes, probably parts will be imported from other countries. When this happens, we effectively export "wealth" in American dollars to those countries. This tends in many but not all such countries to raise the general standard of living. This raise in living standards may or may not come at the expense of a lowered standard of living here in America among the working class. I think that the American working class is under-represented in our government, and I think that it's somewhat unfair for them (us?) to take further decreases in our standard of living in order to repair an economic situation largely caused by those arguably *not* of the working class (for example, investment bankers and mortgage brokers). At the same time, I recognize that dependence on energy controlled by inimical foreigners is bad policy for the USA, and therefore efficiency in automobiles and other equipment is a Good Thing. Crikey. I could go on about this at great length. Let me break it down a bit: 1) Don't waste energy. Conservation at the user level is all very well, but we need to look into our thermal habits in a systemic way at *all* levels. The heat wasted by your refrigerator, for example, could be used to save energy by pre-heating the water that goes to your water heater. 2) Where does that energy come from? Do you know where and how your electricity is generated? I do. My utility sends me regular updates on this, and on the environmental impacts of same. They solicit the opinions of their customers on how best to serve them. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention they are a PUBLIC utility :) 3) What do your neighbors do? What do you do? Jobs are important. You spend at least 1/3 of your life at your job. ( I spend rather more- I'm on salary). Neighbors are also important. They can be one of two things: Either your #1 defense against crime, OR The #1 cause of crime. People think this is because of geographic location- some areas are good, some are bad. Poppycock. It's not the land that makes a neighborhood. It's the neighbors. Do you know your neighbors? Maybe you should.