In the LA Times today, Max Boot identifies a real problem: oil revenue goes disproportionately to some pretty odious regimes. His solutions, such as “increase federal funding for research and rollout of fossil-fuel substitutes such as hydrogen, cellulosic ethanol (produced from grasses and agricultural waste) and plug-in electric engines,” reflect a touching faith in the ability of the federal government to pick winners among all the potential alternatives to oil out there. He would be on stronger ground if we were to argue “tax the hell out of oil and let’s see what emerges.”

Unfortunately, the cost gap between conventional gasoline and the alternatives is quite steep. Look at Europe for instance. Even with gasoline taxes that put prices at between $5–8 per gallon, we don’t see non-oil transportation fuels penetrating the market in any significant way.

I call this the “wish upon a star” policy. Yes, it would be nice if we could render oil valueless through some sort of concerted government effort. But we have made a number of great and small stabs toward that end over the decades and have nothing to show for it save for bankrupt companies, synfuel stories that no one apparently pays any attention to anymore, and forgotten white elephants like California’s glorious attempt in the early 1990s to produce high performance golf carts to replace the automobile. But alas, hope springs eternal.

If consumers want to strike a blow against “the dictator dividend” associated with gasoline consumption, there’s nothing stopping them. Don’t buy gasoline. Ride a bike. Walk. Tool around in a golf cart. Retrofit your car to run on vegetable oil or “Bio-Willie.” If that’s too much for you, you can always simply cut back on gasoline and shrink the dividend that way. There’s nothing here that government needs to do that we can’t do ourselves—if we really want to go where Boot would take us.