A GREAT MOMENT – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  No, Al Gore and his crowd won't think so.  But we think so, and we congratulate the put-upon, unpopular, unfashionable folks who made it possible.  From Financial Times: 

The US is overtaking Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of liquid petroleum, in a sign of how its booming oil production has reshaped the energy sector.

US production of oil and related liquids such as ethane and propane was neck-and-neck with Saudi Arabia in June and again in August at about 11.5m barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency, the watchdog backed by rich countries.

With US production continuing to boom, its output is set to exceed Saudi Arabia’s this month or next for the first time since 1991.

COMMENT:  We are becoming an energy-independent country, something that will dramatically affect the independence of our foreign policy, and the strength of our economy.

Of course, so-called "environmentalists" are appalled, but the fact is that petroleum production has become much cleaner over the years, and developments like fracking have allowed parts of the United States to boom, with high-paying jobs.  Yes, eventually "green" energy will grow, but the technology is just not there yet.  We're an oil-based economy and will be so for decades.  We should applaud our new independence.

The big, bad oil companies have been largely responsible for making this day possible.  I have no connection, financial or otherwise, with these firms, and no doubt they sometimes do some abrasive things.  But for a century they've provided America with relatively inexpensive energy, and they deserve a pat on the back for that alone.

September 30,  2014