Trump Just Achieved What Every President Since Nixon Had Promised: Energy Independence December 10, 2018 | investors.com   Last week, the U.S. exported more oil than we imported, for the first time in 70-plus years. And it happened not because of decades of federal "energy policies," but despite them.   Since Richard Nixon was in the White House, presidents have pushed national energy plans that, they said, would reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. These plans all had one thing in common — they all assumed that increased domestic oil production couldn't solve the problem. Instead, from Nixon on down, Republican and Democratic presidents declared that the only way to achieve energy independence was through some combination of strict conservation measures and "alternative" forms of energy.  Energy Independence Promises   In 1973, for example, Nixon declared that "the answer to our long-term needs lies in developing new forms of energy." He promised to spend $10 billion researching it. That year, Nixon also announced "a conservation drive" that he said would cut personal energy consumption by 5%. And he proposed creating a new Department of Energy. A few years later, Jimmy Carter signed the Energy Security Act of 1980, which created the disastrous Synthetic Fuel Corporation, calling it "the cornerstone of U.S. energy policy." He imposed fuel economy mandates on cars. And he urged people to turn down their thermostats in the winter.   Bill Clinton proposed creating "energy independent areas" that relied on renewables, efficiency, and homegrown energy. He claimed these would "prove to the rest of the world that energy independence built on clean energy can occur."   investors Business Daily Source Article Here